Fireside Chat

The role of translation in Knowledge Management

charlesd — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 04:22:32 -0600

"Indigenous African knowledge has much to offer science — but only if science can be translated into local languages" Charles Dhewa.

Africans have a rich cultural heritage and a wealth of traditional knowledge on topics ranging from agricultureand forestry to medicines and medical practices — all of which could make valuable contributions to modern science. For example, traditional knowledge of drought-resistant crop varieties could prove crucial in helping small farmers across the continent adapt to climate change. Much of this type of knowledge is embedded in the diverse local languages and cultures found in Africa.

Yet despite centuries of scientific undertakings on the continent, there is still no vernacular word for 'science'. In Southern Africa, science remains a minority, English-language based, pursuit that reinforces the domination of English at the expense of local languages such as Ndebele, Swahili and many others.

This marginalisation of African languages and practices means much local knowledge is lost. Many innovations by farmers and rural communities are excluded from modern science and technology (S&T) because there are no local terms or expressions to capture them.

It is vital for ordinary people to be able to participate in science innovation. Moving the large body of indigenous knowledge into mainstream S&T systems will help address pressing development issues on the continent.

Engaging ordinary people with S&T could also help prevent unfair exploitation of natural resources and make citizens more aware of laws protecting these resources at national and regional levels.

Domesticating science

African policymakers must make an effort to 'domesticate' science by usingvernacular languages to talk about it. This means investing in translation activities.

Literal translation is, of course, an important aspect. Initiatives to compile science dictionaries are a welcome step forward. Zimbabwean scientist Christopher Chetsanga is, for example, compiling a dictionary in the Shona language — spoken by nine million people in Zimbabwe — that should do much to improve local understanding of scientific terms and issues.

Certainly, big institutions such as the UN Economic Commission for Africa and huge initiatives such as the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development should use translation to add value to the mountains of documents they publish in English.

But it's not just individual words that need translating, it's also the expression of ideas and meanings, formed in one context and received and interpreted in very different ones.

Integrating ideas

To achieve this we must strengthen the role of intermediaries with specialist communication skills — people who can translate and summarise complex S&T ideas in local languages and explain both the concepts and implications with simplicity. Such people are sometimes called 'integrators', 'filters' and 'synthesisers'.

Integrators combine separate ideas into one body of knowledge. An integrator can adequately combine indigenous and scientific knowledge on climate change in ways that are meaningful to ordinary people. Filtering includes editing and clarifying ideas so that people can understand the benefits of, for example, biotechnology, without bias or misunderstanding. Synthesisers effectively summarise key issues.

Translating the issues around topics such as climate change and biotechnology, where debate is often highly polarised, requires all three skills.

Intermediaries can sometimes do more than simply explain the science. They might, for example, be able to draw attention to opportunities around intellectual property.

And intermediaries can draw marginal communities into modern scientific discourses, enhancing collaboration with researchers and formal S&T organisations.

Translation activities should also promote cross-disciplinary sharing and collaboration. Many S&T disciplines still operate as self-contained silos. In Africa, for example, civil engineers rarely communicate with agricultural researchers, with potentially serious consequences for rural farmers.

Boosting farmers' yields through agricultural research is of little value if the transport infrastructure, including roads and bridges, cannot get their crop to market.

Paying for progress

Of course, domesticating S&T through translation can only succeed with sufficient investment to support it. In theory, money for translation activities should come out of national S&T budgets. But these remain very small in Africa.

Despite African Union members promising, in 2007, to spend one per cent of their GDP (gross domestic product) on research and development, only two countries are doing so — Rwanda and Tunisia (see Africa Analysis: Progress on science spending). The average spend across the continent is just 0.4 per cent — translation funds are unlikely to be found here.

An alternative source of funding, recently championed by my scientific colleagues in Zimbabwe, could be national S&T taxes, modelled on Zimbabwe's three per cent HIV/AIDS Levy, introduced in 1999. The levy has been remarkably successful in ensuring funds for HIV/AIDS activities, including access to lifesaving antiretrovirals, despite the country's economic turmoil.

A S&T Levy could be used to finance all aspects of research and development, including translation activities. It could also help promote industrialisation and help local producers and manufacturers add value to their products.

Whatever the route to accessing money, the fact remains that science translation activities in Africa are urgently needed if we are to tap into the energy, entrepreneurship, creativity and intelligence of our people.

Charles Dhewa is the managing consultant for communications and knowledge management consultancy Knowledge Transfer Africa in Harare, Zimbabwe.

KM & Social Challenges

Key issues in KM

Moustafa Wahba — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 01:48:33 -0600

We as KM Africa Members should enhance our awareness, knowledge and skills on the concept of Knowledge Management KM by concentrating on different KM issues such as:

What Constitutes intellectual or Knowledge-based Assets?
Why we need Knowledge Management KM within Enterprises & TVET Institutions?
What are the benefits and motivations leading Enterprises & TVET Institutions to undertake a KM project?
What are the KM Strategies?
Categorization of Knowledge Management Approaches
How to promote a KM project in an Enterprise or TVET Institution?
How to Demonstrate the Value of a KM Project?
What is the Best Way to Approach KM?
What Are the Challenges of KM?
How Can KM Project Be Supported?
What is the Most Important for Enterprises & TVET Institutions to Do in Knowledge Management?

Best regards.
Eng. Moustafa Wahba
Competency Assurance & TVET Consultant
mmm_wahba@hotmail.com

Personal Knowledge Management Project

Knowledge Management- sharing the experience

maphuti — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:21:43 -0700

One distinct lesson I had to grasp quite early in my career as Knowledge Manager was an advice from a senior KM professional (now senior executive in one of SA's most successful financial companies) which went something like " the biggest mistake that we knowledge managers do is forcing people to value our contributions or unique abilities within an organization when we should be creating service products that we know people will need in the not so distant future '

Ofcourse at the time, a very young KM professional who had just completed her Honours degree, (and obviously knew everything) his advice did not hit home, it was somewhat "theoretical"- too academic for my liking and stuff for 'professors' not a young, brilliant go-getter like myself. Little did I know that the two linked sentences was all the advice I needed to succeed in this dog eat dog world called 'workplace'.

One other KM professional wrapped it nicely by quoting her business friend who said that 'people buy things that take away an itch or pain not aspirin'. You might have invented aspirin and be trying to advocate its use but unless the person you are communicating with has a need to use it they won’t'. As knowledge managers we need to package our messages to suit our target audience. We must communicate relevant messages to relevant people. But that is difficult when you dont get the support and buy-in from senior management , some say, but I think the fact that KM is still very much a visionary field gives us an opportunity to shape and turn it into what 'we' want it to be rather than what 'they' want it to be by focusing our energies on devising innovative solutions so when 'they' start feeling the pain we are there to provide the pain killer. For example, when someone tells us they are in 'Marketing', we immediately assume that they are creative, innovative and flexible. The same goes when you speak to someone on the phone and they refer to themselves as 'professor', one will be forgiven to think that they are probably old and wears specticles. The question is what do we want people to visualize when we refer to ourselves as Knowledge professionals?

Recently due to the recession, many HR managers had an added responsibility to do something most of them had never done before- 'downsizing'. One HR executive shared a story about how their KM department have assited them not only by doing a skills audit but also aligning it to the business objectives to identify their current levels of skills, skills they can afford to do with and those that they will still require after the recession. The one lesson they learned as HR professionals he said, was 'you need to be careful what knowledge you tell the world you dont need anymore". This means that by letting go of say for example, 'Engineers', you are basically telling them your business do not rely on them and therefore be mindful that after the recession these might just be the skills you want to attract in your company. The question is- will these Engineers be willing to come back or even want to associate themselves with your company that told the whole world they do not need them?

For HR managers it is all about doing what the business wants or need at the time- saving the company money but as learned in this particular case, HR managers needed KM managers to assist them doing it right. Thats all that KM really is- ensuring that corporate memory is not only protected but shared, circulated and re-used for the benefit of an organization. While it's said that decisions are the life blood of an organization, it has to be the correct blood, flowing into the correct veins at the right time and in the right quantity!

Yours in Knowledge sharing;

Fireside Chat

KMAfrica.com KnowledgeHub Greetings

KMAadmin — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:16:07 -0700

Zulu culture, language & traditions

Mountain Metaphor & Ritual in African Leadership

storytelling — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:55:10 -0700

By : Ralf Sibande with Steve & Eugenie Banhegyi

Note: this article is written using the perspective of Zulu leadership and knowledge systems.

The western business leadership education model provides comprehensive and detailed information in myriad specialist fields but fails to emphasise a holistic and integrative approach to human development in the context of working life. This lack of a holistic approach causes a problematic discontinuity between the experience of home/community life and the world of work where the all-important ‘soft skills’ of interpersonal behaviour are rarely reflected upon.

The mountain metaphor offers the opportunity of looking at leadership from a uniquely African perspective. The experience of a rite of passage underlines the idea of on-going change and movement away from an old role and into a new one. In the rite of passage, the initiate experiences a new, expansive and different world; one where they are expected to be and do more. The rite also helps them release the ‘old self’ - the set of old role expectations, attitudes and behaviours.

In sub-saharan African cultures, the social process of leading young adults into adulthood is known as going to the mountain. It is done for both young men and women. Going to the mountain is a prerequisite rite of passage before taking one’s place as an adult in a community of peers. The initiates are not only introduced to the secrets of the tribe and clan, but are guided to assume proactive leadership roles in their communities. They are helped to undergo accelerated physical, mental and attitudinal changes that have profound implications for the individual and the culture’s continuity. The most important lessons taught at the mountain are:

The initiate is led to discover his/her sense of individuality by revealing their unique qualities. These qualities are captured in the poetry of the individual’s praise song and the praise song of his clan or family. If an initiate excels in some personal quality, for example courage in the face of danger, this quality will be reflected in his personal praise song. This individuality is harnessed and expressed within the group.
Learning experiences reflecting the harsh realities of the African environment : hunger, danger, war, strife, inter-tribal rivalry, drastic changes in the weather conditions, political uncertainty etc. are simulated for the initiates to enhance their survival skills and to internalise of their cosmology. Tests are created in which their individuality is given a chance to expose itself and grow. Personal qualities such as public deportment and speaking, patience, courage and bravery, moral rectitude are cultivated within the moral-ethical constructs of the tribe.
The importance of the rites of initiation lies in storytelling, action and feedback as a vehicle for accelerated group learning, team building and transference of values. The African teaching-learning/knowledge management paradigm is rooted in practice and story-telling by seasoned elders lead the initiates into a journey of self-discovery and personal development. Initiates are engaged holistically in terms of their thinking with the aim of impacting their entire being and changing them from fearful children into fully fledged, morally accountable adults happy and eager to assume their roles in their community and tribe. The African learning experience engages the entire human being. By contrast, the western paradigm tends to emphasise cognitive development at the expense of other aspects of the human being – an emphasis that may lead to disproportionate and dysfunctional development.

The leaders on the mountain peak earn their status through a proven practical record of successes. Not only do they embody their culture and mythology, they are actively engaged in an on-going interpretation and creation of reality and ‘telling the living story’ to the levels of leadership below them.

The formulation of a global vision is influenced by the spiritual roots of the mountain peak leaders. Values such as loyalty, selfless and inspired dedication and personal sacrifice are impossible without the belief in shared spiritual myths. In a secular and hedonistic modern world, there is a need to revisit the African leadership model because it has so much that is original to teach us and offers another fresh perspective to look at leadership issues.

Mountain peak leadership has the task of creating a unifying culture. In Africa, there is often a tremendous sense of community and the real and metaphorical spaces between people are much narrower and closer than in the West. In the pre-colonial past, a circular geometry in the construction of private dwellings, eating from the same dishes, communal washing in the river, shared parenthood of children, membership in age-group cadres, and the inculcation of the values today described as representing ‘ubuntu’ were all symbols of interdependence.

The Zulu word umholi has the root stem hola which stands for the verb to receive one’s reward and indeed leadership is perceived as a rewarding experience. In the modern capitalist society umholo is one’s salary or stipend. A leader within this context is the one who receives not only the material reward but the more important intrinsic reward of self-esteem and self-actualisation by virtue of his/her selfless dedication to the task and well-being of his/her followers. The leader also receives the revelation from the mountain top. African leaders deserve their reward because they earn it through the general good that they share with the rest of the community. This is in contrast with many western corporate leaders who maximise personal gain regardless of the surrounding sea of material poverty in their midst. Without a solid base, the apex of the mountain is inconceivable. Hence the African expression “umuntu ngabanye abantu” (One’s humanity is impossible without acknowledging the humanity of others.)

In contrast to the western hierarchical-military-pyramid chain of command, mountain peak leadership describes an interdependent system in which everything – no matter how insignificant - is seen as a vitally important part of the whole. An African leader who loses sight of this fact is generally referred to as “akanabuntu”’ (“He/she is devoid of human content.”) He/she is perceived as being alienated from the balance of the mountain, becoming a self-destructive force until acted upon by equal and countervailing forces of restoration. Another African proverb underlines the idea of unbalanced leadership; ‘if you are not living the dream, then you are living the nightmare’ shows how the way the leader thinks can move the organisations.

Within this context, the African mountain peak leader is not judged by status or knowledge but rather by humanity or human content. In the African workplace, you don’t just work with people in order to achieve deadlines and goals; you are in a relationship with them and the larger whole/enterprise. And until you acknowledge their humanity – by acknowledging and revealing your own - you cannot inspire them to do their best. Acknowledging their humanity means showing genuine interest in them, sharing experiences and wisdom, participating in mundane matters such as common meals, bereavement, or joys and sorrows. Sharing a meal in the staff canteen does not subtract from an African leader but inspires respect, loyalty and love. Many of the most powerful stories about Nelson Mandela, for example, are never reported in the media but instead do their rounds as urban legends in Johannesburg households. For instance, his recent personal, private and unannounced visit to a community hall in Alexandra, Johannesburg to take part in a community meeting was widely spoken about.

In Africa people do not respect trappings of power such as cell phones, expensive cars, bigger homes, slender girl friends, imported designer Italian suits and perfumes. Whilst these might be envied, they are not respected. Rather, people respect the emotional intelligence to transcend these artificial badges of distinction and empathetically connect with the other, thus creating the possibility of mutual trust and the conditions necessary for collective synergy.

In Africa age is respected. The mountain peak leader may be young but must respect those older than him/herself. In the age of first names, casual open necked shirts and performance bonuses, it is easy to lose sight of this important aspect. The greatest social blunder in Africa is to ignore the humanity of the other person.

In this context, oppression and inhumanity to others become symptoms that suggest the dysfunctional performance of a leadership role. Crime is perceived not only as a personal transgression, but as a symptom of a community out of balance. The role of the Sangoma is then to restore community balance and harmony. Apart from punishing the offender, restoration involves healing the entire community. A communal feast is a spiritual experience in which everyone participates in an act of fellowship and unity. Participation demonstrates freedom from prejudice, animosity or any other personal impediment whereas non-participation may brand one as a ‘witch’ not because people believe in witches but because it strikes a dissonant chord to the melody and spiritual unity of the community.

The concepts of Mountain Peak Leadership are useful in designing future models of people-centred organisations and cultures. In these cultures, technology serves as an enabler of relationships and a mechanism to effectively store and transmit useful knowledge across generations. Technology, symbols and rituals are also consciously designed to create and support an environment necessary for peaceful coexistence, mutual love and empathy, community belongingness and the survival of the extended family of which the workplace is seen an integral part.

The persistent and endemic problems of fraud and corruption in the corporate and public sectors in South Africa may be worsened by lack of Leadership commitment and by the neglect of core leadership values. The leaders on the mountain peak have a wider, far-sighted, longer term and prophetic view of what they are doing. This view makes it vital for them to ‘tell the story’ of the future and foresee the consequences of their actions. They also know that they are role models whose every word and deed undergo minute analysis and reflection by their followers – the leader becomes increasingly aware because what the leader says and does becomes a precedent.

Fireside Chat

GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE TOWARDS 2012

Md Santo — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:40:15 -0700

GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE TOWARDS 2012 or “CONTINUUM OF PHYSICAL REALITY WITH KNOWLEDGE AND BEYOND : GREAT TURNING FROM MIND BRAIN TO CONSCIOUSNESS DNA” (see the Attachment) showing global trends towards 2012 in which the domain of Knowledge evolved in continuum universe as emergent behavior within human body as complex (adpative) system, having consciousness and free will (mind and value) as well as behaving dynamically as subject

A brief description about the sentence ..."After Singularity between Human Mind and Technology reaching its peak (in 2012 ?)"... :
"Singularity" here means the phenomenon of the race between smartness of Human and Technology (Machine) which is at present occured exponentially and exponentially at very tremendous speed and will reaching its peak around the year 2012. To cope this situation, Human as Complex Adaptive System will migrate or making "great turning" from Brain as "center of play making in science or scientific knowledge" (locus of Mind) to the DNA as "new center" (locus of Consciousness). This migration or "great turning" will give impressive impact on how Human manage the Science and Technology. In this circumstances, it will appropriate if we put or coin a new term called as "Knowledgeable Science" which is entirely different with Scientific Knowledge as commonly used. (Consciousness) DNA as new vital locus will certainly has a higher level than the (Mind) Brain as former human vital locus.

To get more comprehensive insight, should you visit also :

http://isivivane.com/kmafrica/forum.hybrid.definition.of.knowledge - "We are the knowledge: a hybrid definition of knowledge"
http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/next-generation-of-knowledge - "NEXT GENERATION OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT (KM)"
http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/five-basic-implications-of-n... - "FIVE BASIC IMPLICATIONS OF NEW PARADIGM OF KNOWLEDGE"
http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/knowledge-towards-2012-great - "KNOWLEDGE TOWARDS 2012 : GREAT TURNING FROM MIND BRAIN TO CONSCIOUSNESS DNA"

Tourism Knowledge SIG

Harnessing Knowledge to Promote HIV Prevention in Southern Africa

K4Health — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:43:12 -0700

New HIV infections have been reduced by 17% over the past eight years, according to a joint report released today from UNAIDS and WHO. Needless to say, there is much to be proud of as we mark the 21st anniversary of World AIDS Day. However, as we take time today to reflect on the struggles and successes of the past three decades, it’s important we also prepare for the battles to come.

Executive Director of UNAIDS Michel Sidibé said, “The good news is that we have evidence that the declines we are seeing are due, at least in part, to HIV prevention.” He added, “However, the findings also show that prevention programming is often off the mark and that if we do a better job of getting resources and programs to where they will make most impact, quicker progress can be made and more lives saved.”

To help program managers and others hit that mark, K4Health in partnership with the USAID/Southern Africa Regional Program (RHAP) is strengthening knowledge management (KM) initiatives in the region. The Knowledge for Health Southern Africa (K4HSA) program will facilitate knowledge capturing, synthesis, and sharing among audiences who work in the response against HIV/AIDS across Southern Africa. Something that we believe will promote the use and scale-up of best practices, lead to better results, and ultimately save more lives.

We have also identified local partners to participate in the regional KM initiative, and alliances and synergies have been developed with partners, including AIDSPortal, Soul City, Soul Beat, PSI, and UNAIDS. SAfAIDS was also identified to become the operational partner of K4HSA in the region.

In addition to our work in Southern Africa, K4Health is excited to announce the publication of two toolkits related to HIV prevention, including:

* Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (http://www.k4health.org/node/361)
* Multiple and Concurrent Partnerships (http://www.k4health.org/toolkits/MCP)

We also have toolkits on condom use and family planning and HIV integration in the pipeline.

Our toolkits (http://www.k4health.org/toolkits) are developed from the collaborative efforts of working groups worldwide, and they capture the best knowledge surrounding a particular topic. They also allow individuals to comment and suggest other resources, including grey literature. By facilitating virtual collaboration, we hope to tap into the online collectivism around HIV prevention and create the best repositories of information that live on and evolve for people on the front lines.

Would you like to learn more about the integration of HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health? Visit our resource page (http://www.hivandsrh.org/) to see the featured resources, events, or join a discussion. Our funder USAID also released a very informative newsletter, “Working Together in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS,” (http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_health/home/News/enewsletter/index....) that we encourage you to visit.

Philippe LeMay, Deputy Director
http://www.k4health.org

Fireside Chat

Neocolonialism

KMAadmin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:20:21 -0700

Neocolonialism is a term used by post-colonial critics of developed countries' involvement in the developing world. Writings within the theoretical framework of neocolonialism argue that existing or past international economic arrangements created by former colonial powers were or are used to maintain control of their former colonies and dependencies after the colonial independence movements of the post World War II period. The term neocolonialism can combine a critique of current actual colonialism (where some states continue administrating foreign territories and their populations in violation of United Nations resolutions) and a critique of the involvement of modern capitalist businesses in nations which were former colonies. Critics adherent to neocolonialism contend that private, foreign business companies continue to exploit the resources of post-colonial states, and that this economic control inherent to neocolonialism is akin to the classical, European colonialism practiced from the 16th to the 20th centuries.

In broader usage, neocolonialism may simply refer to the involvement of powerful countries in the affairs of less powerful countries; this is especially relevant in modern Latin America. In this sense, neocolonialism implies a form of contemporary, economic imperialism: that powerful nations behave like colonial powers of imperialism, and that this behavior is likened to colonialism in a post-colonial world.

In broader usage the charge of Neocolonialism has been leveled at powerful countries and transnational corporations who involve themselves in the affairs of less powerful countries. In this sense, 'Neo'colonialism implies a form of contemporary, conomic Imperialism: that powerful nations behave 'like colonial powers, and that this behavior is 'likened to' colonialism in a post-colonial world. In lieu of direct military-political control, neocolonialist powers are said to employ financial, bribery/corruption and trade policies to dominate less powerful countries. Those who subscribe to the concept maintain this amounts to a 'de facto' control over less powerful nations ('see Immanuel Wallerstein's World Systems Theory').

Both previous colonizing states and other powerful economic states maintain a continuing presence in the economies of former colonies, especially where it concerns raw materials. Stronger nations are thus charged with interfering in the governance and economics of weaker nations to maintain the flow of such material, at prices and under conditions which unduly benefit developed nations and trans-national corporations.

Multinational corporations

Critics of neocolonialism also argue that investment by multinational corporations enriches few in underdeveloped countries, and causes humanitarian, environmental and ecological devastation to the populations which inhabit the neocolonies. This, it is argued, results in unsustainable development and perpetual underdevelopment; a dependency which cultivates those countries as reservoirs of cheap labor and raw materials, while restricting their access to advanced production techniques to develop their own economies. In some countries, privatization of national resources, while initially leading to immediate large scale influx of investment capital, is often followed by dramatic increases in the rate of unemployment, poverty, and a decline in per-capita income. This is particularly true in the West African nations of Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and Mauritania where fishing has historically been central to the local economy. Beginning in 1979, the European Union began brokering fishing rights contracts off the coast of West Africa. This continues to this day. Commercial unsustainable over-fishing from foreign corporations have played a significant role in the large-scale unemployment and migration of people across the region. This stands in direct opposition to United Nations Treaty on the Seas which recognizes the importance of fishing to local communities and insists that government fishing agreements with foreign companies should be targeted at surplus stocks only.

International Financial Institutions

Some portray the choice to grant or to refuse granting loans (particularly those financing otherwise unpayable Third World debt), especially by international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank (WB), as a decisive form of control. They argue that in order to qualify for these loans, and other forms of economic aid, weaker nations are forced to take certain steps favorable to the financial interests of the IMF and World Bank but detrimental to their own economies. These structural adjustments have the effect of increasing rather than alleviating poverty within the nation. Some have pointed out that neocolonialism allows certain cartels of states, such as the World Bank, to control and exploit usually lesser developed countries (LDCs) by fostering debt. In effect, third world governments give concessions and monopolies to foreign corporations in return for consolidation of power and monetary bribes. In most cases, much of the money loaned to these LDCs is returned to the favored foreign corporations. Thus, foreign loans are in effect subsidies to corporations of the loaning states. This collusion is sometimes referred to as the corporatocracy. Organizations accused of participating in neo-imperialism include the World Bank, World Trade Organization and Group of Eight, and the World Economic Forum. Various "first world" states, notably the United States, are said to be involved, as described in 'Confessions of an Economic Hit Man' by John Perkins.

KM & Economic Challenges

We are the knowledge: a hybrid definition of knowledge

storytelling — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:07:42 -0700

By : Dr Md Santo

KNOWLEDGE DEFINITION FROM SCHOLAR (WESTERN) VIEWS

Knowledge is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as (i) expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject, (ii) what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information or (iii) awareness or ... (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge)

Relevant information that one is able to recall from memory; All cognitive expectancies that an individual or organization actor uses to interpret situations and to generate activities; A specific body of knowledge of any kind, on some subject or in some field; Awareness resulting from ... (en.wiktionary.org/wiki/knowledge)

Knowledge is part of the hierarchy made up of data, information and knowledge. Data are raw facts. Information is data with context and perspective. Knowledge is information with guidance for action based upon insight and experience... (www.infodiv.unimelb.edu.au/knowledgebase/itservices/a-z/k.html)

KNOWLEDGE COMPREHENSION FROM THEOLOGICAL (EASTERN) CONCEPT AND ITS IMPLICATION ON THE INDONESIAN CULTURE

‘Ilm in Islamic theology referred to Knowledge in broad meaning as ‘Knowledge and beyond’ including Wisdom and Ma’rifah or Gnosis (describing mystical intuitive knowledge, knowledge of spiritual truth as reached through ecstatic experiences rather than revealed or rationally acquired). Knowledge is considered to be derived from two sources: 'aql (mind) and 'ilm huduri (in the sense of unmediated and direct knowledge acquired through mystic experience a.k.a. as physiognomy : the ability to prophesy the future). The term Hikmah (God’s Will) derived from ‘ilm huduri’.

'Ilm is referred to in many Quranic verses as 'light' (nur) This light does not shine for ever for all the believers. If is hidden sometimes by the clouds of doubt arising from the human mind. Doubt is sometimes interpreted in the Quran as darkness, and ignorance also is depicted as darkness in a number of its verses.

The above comprehension to great extend influencing Indonesian culture in looking for the meaning between Ilmu Pengetahuan (Science) with Pengetahuan (Knowledge) on the other hand. Instead both are included as ‘Ilm but they are frequently mixed with confused meaning. To get clarified on this issue see the link http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/clarifying-the-domain-of - CLARIFYING THE DOMAIN OF SCIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE

EMERGENT PROPERTY FACTOR : THREE POSTULATES OF KNOWLEDGE

Human as well as human organization considered as Complex (Adaptive) System characterized with so called Emergent Property. That means the system has a unique behavior feature which will be exposed all in a sudden as the impact of the network effect. The new behavior is more than the sum of its parts. We are convinced that the Emergent Property of Complex System acting in between the domain of scientific method (bottom up paradigm) and the domain of physiognomy plus the ability to prophesy the future method (top down paradigm).

The new emergent Knowledge is more than the sum of their cummulative Information! (see also http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/the-latest-paradigms-and - THE LATEST PARADIGMS AND TRENDS IN KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT (KM) – especially Attachment 1)

From this point, our deductive as well as our inductive thinking come up with three postulated results. First, Knowledge acting as Subject resulting from Emergent Property as its behavior (see the link http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/clarifying-the-domain-of ). Second, the emerging Knowledge is part of Human Enlightment Process (see the link http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/human-enlightment-staging ). Third, we strongly believe that an analogy and similarity between K(M) and Human Body Genome exist regarding its structure, function as well as process (see the link http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/analogy-study-of-human-... )

TOWARDS HYBRID UNDERSTANDING OF KNOWLEDGE BETWEEN “EAST AND WEST”

We prefer eclectic approach on the issue of how to develop definition of Knowledge regarding universal and (inter) objective consideration. One of our articles posted at http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com which is most relevant of the approach just mention is the link : http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/why-knowledge-managemen... : ‘WHY KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IS HUMAN ENLIGHTMENT (TO LIGHT HUMAN LIFE) PROCESS ? : FROM INFORMATION THEORY AND NOOR ASPECT’ Our effort here is to make irrelevant the Rudyard Kipling’s ….. OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet….., thanks to Social Media Platform (Web 2.0 platform) to develop Social Constructivism globally or doing Social Learning or Social Networking it is possible to clarify further and more in depth the basic issues of Knowledge. Let’s see the following matrix diagram of structure-based as well as functional-based definitions of the elements in human life :

STRUCTURE-BASED DEFINITION OF THE ELEMENTS IN HUMAN LIFE :

• Wisdom = existing Wisdom + Knowledge + Informasi + Data + Physical Reality
• Knowledge = existing Knowledge + Informasi + Data + Physical Reality
• Information = existing Information + Data + Physical Reality
• Data = existing Data + Physical Reality
• Physical Reality = Space + Time + Senses Perceiving – based existence

FUNCTIONAL-BASED DEFINITION OF THE ELEMENTS IN HUMAN LIFE :

• Data = Numerical and Symbolic Facts
• Information = Collection of Data with meaning but treated as object only
• Knowledge = Collection of Information with meaning and treated as dynamic subject having consciousness and giving us deterministic Action & Performance
• Wisdom = Knowledge with highest effective complexity

THE RATIONALES OF OUR VERSION OF KM DEFINITION

We as MOBEE KNOWLEDGE CoP – KM 2.0 have released our own version of KM Definition we called it as “Human Enlightment Process-based KM Definition” through the link : http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/human-enlightment-staging and http://www.knowledge-management-online.com/human-enlightment-proces... in which KM defined as follow :

1. KM is the staging of Human Enlightment Process
2. The process is to managing the transformation of Information content into Knowledge and beyond
3. The goals are towards Learning, Growth and Innovation
4. The management should leveraged by KM Standards, KM Tools and KM Process Frameworks

HYBRID DEFINITION OF KNOWLEDGE

Taking into consideration from the Scholar (Western) view, the Theological (Eastern) concept, as well as the Emergent property of Complex System acting as bridging between ‘Western’ thinking and ‘Eastern’ thinking, we come up with ‘HYBRID DEFINITION OF KNOWLEDGE’ as follows :

Knowledge is where Information being transformed embedded within human body as emergent property having consciousness and free will (mind and value) as well as behaving dynamically as subject

Your comment (if any) will be appreciated

Dr Md Santo
• Knowledge Management facilitator
• E-mail : moesdar@gmail.com
• URL http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com
• Follow me on Twitter : http://twitter.com/md_santo
• Connect with me on Linkedin : http://www.linkedin.com/in/bluemoonmobee

Tags: complexadaptivesystem, complexsystem, emergentproperty, hybriddefinition, hybriddefinitionofkm, kmdefinition, knowledge, threepostulatesofknowledge

Fireside Chat

Using questions in knowledge work

storytelling — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:32:03 -0600

KM professionals and facilitators need to understand and appreciate the role and power of questions in knowledge work. Further, we need to be able to apply questions in order to create and discover knowledge. There are some compelling reasons for this including:

Questions are strong attractors in the chaos of ideas, they gather, focus, attract and energize the conversation.
Only? questions have the power to beak our current midsets, they set in motion the deep relection needed to alter our beliefs.
It is the place and the space 'between not knowing and our desire to know' where we are most attentive, self-aware and alive. Questions hold the key to this special area.
Compelling and quality questions drive knowledge creation and expansion in a fundamental way. Knowledge emerges around good questions.
Questions energize and glue our conversation, draw people into the circle to participate and gather diverse opinions.
Questions keep the conversation moving forward, awaken dormant discourse and may be used to guide the subject back on course.

(from Verna Allee)

Questions of clarification

After some material exists in a conversation or dialogue, a questioner may seek to understand the others "frame of reference." Further (according to Hayakawa), the questioner "seeks to avoid. All implications of skepticism or challenge or hostility." The questioner often restates in his or her words what they think they heard and ask the original speaker to confirm that account. There are other more specific question of clarification that may lead from an agreement that the two now have a shared frame of reference.

Purpose questions

Why do we do this? Why did you say that? The motivation or cause is sought.

Prompting questions

"Prompt the interviewee and keep the conversation on track with such questions as, `What do you do first?' `Then what?' and so on, until you come to, "What do you do last?'

Attitude questions

How do you feel about what happened? What way do you see the world? Does that look good to you? What are your preferences in this matter?

Commitment questions

Who's with me on this? Can I count on you? The questions of accountability and responsibility are here. Will you be accountable? Will you share responsibility?

Affirming questions

Was that as good for you as it was for me? Wasn't that fun? Isn't this very good?

Questions of uniqueness or Example questions

Can you give me an illustration of that? Some more concrete way of describing it? Instances, cases, and models are sought here. Hayakawa cites Irving Lee for this category in which you might find questions such as, "Exactly what kind of synthetic plastic did you use in making that product?" Hayakawa says that such questions "are designed to prevent the functional deafness which we induce in ourselves by reacting to speakers and speeches in terms of the generalizations that we apply to them." They ask for the "particular characteristics"

Disagreeing Questions or Questions of Protest

The listener or reader sees the situation another way and asks a question to discern whether the other is aware of another viewpoint. They are often phrased with a negative, "Are there not other ways of looking at this problem?" "Have you dismissed the framework suggested by the previous speaker?" the person seeks clarification but also wishes to announce at the least their disagreement and in some cases the gist of their p.o.v.

Rhetorical questions

Rhetorical questions are meant not to be answered, but to provoke thought. They are as the Latin author Quintillian categorized them:

interrogatio - the question which requires no answer because it expresses a truth which cannot be denied
rogatio - the question to which we immediately supply our own answer
quaestitio - "a string of questions uttered in rapid succession for emotional emphasis"
percontatio - "an enquiry addressed to another in a tone of amazement in which it is hard for the other person to figure out how to reply"

Hypothetical

"The use of `would' in a question makes it hypothetical, a possibility for the audience to consider. Here are some examples of hypothetical questions: "What would you do if we had an earthquake right now?" and "How would you handle it if you discovered one of your employees abusing drugs?" Such questions lead the trainer into explaining how the forthcoming training session will provide answers."

Polling

"Polling questions often begin, `How many of you...?' Some examples: `How many of you give good instructions?' and `How many of you have performed CPR?' "

Review questions

These are questions that challenge others to tell what their intake was after some session, class, conversation, or instruction. For example, what do you/we now mean by a CoP?

Summarizing questions

Is there anything that we didn't get to? What did you like best? What is your opinion of this subject now?

Questions, the route to inquiry?

Think of some sets of questions that explore: 1) What you would like to know? 2) Something you would like to say? 3) Can you be of assistance? 4) Going on a journey of discovery? 5) Imagine the possibilities?

KM for Conflict & Change Management

The water debate

storytelling — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:03:06 -0600

Water is vital to life. It is the essential component in all aspects and activities related to our well-being and existence – including food and energy production and manufacturing in general. It’s clear that if our water supply continues to dwindle, and/or, if water became unaffordable, our lives would be detrimentally transformed. Billions of people are already experiencing and suffering from the mismanagement and unequal allocation of water. Between 1.1 and 1.5 billion people in the world lack access to safe drinking water and 2.6 billion people lack access to basic sanitation. 2.2 million people die each year due to low quality drinking water and/or lack of sanitation – that is 42,000 people per week, 90 percent of whom are children (WHO/UNICET:2005). Exclusion to socially necessary goods and services such as fresh water has horrific consequences that are catastrophic, yet entirely preventable.

The struggle over fresh water goods and services has taken the form of a conflict over increasing commercialisation, privatisation and liberalisation. This struggle takes place in an era of economic globalisation where neoliberal policies transform all forms of social reproduction so that all goods and services that were once held in common (things such as fresh water, education and healthcare etc.) are increasingly exposed to the free market and in many cases transformed into a form of private property. This regulatory shift – from public to private – is by no means inevitable. The processes that facilitate this shift are a direct result of political and corporate elites exercising their power and will, through an organised network of connections, in order to achieve the free market conditions that are necessary to expand the reach of capital.

Fireside Chat

KM without computers

storytelling — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:19:44 -0600

The personal computer and the Internet have only been around for a couple of years but it now seems that anything to do with KM relates to and uses these technologies. The result is that many people now believe that sitting behind their desks and surfing the internet while disseminating pearls of wisdom, the odd youtube video and joke to friends and colleagues is Knowledge Management.

My question is this - computers are fallable. The hard disk does not last forever, the electricity can be cut at any time and even the printed word quickly loses its meaning with the passage of time. Given all this, how is it possible to 'do' KM without a computer? How can one share, store and create knowledge without electicity? How did people do KM before computers and the Internet?

Fireside Chat

Leadership, storytelling and hope

KMAadmin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:07:21 -0600

"Hope is the pillar of the world" is a profound Nigerian proverb. Hope is a wish, a dream, an expectation of a time to come. The way we convey our sense of hope to ourselves and to each other is through stories. We hope to grow old and healthy and famous. We hope to continue making money sustainably. We hope we'll come out of recession. All are reasonable hopes. The things we do and the stories we tell have a lot to do with maintaining our sense of hopefulness. And this sense of hopefulness is recognised by our employees, our customers and stakeholders and reflects in our life circumstances.

So what hopeful stories do you think/talk to yourself? What stories do you tell your stakeholders, colleagues, employees and customers? How do you tell them? Are they consistent and believeable? In amongst all the stories that continually circulate in the world, why would they pay attention to your story? How do you know your stories are working?

The interesting idea about thoughts of hope is that it is impossible to engage them without also thinking about its opposites; fears, limitations, self-limiting beliefs and risks. How do you tell these stories? What metaphors are you using? How can they be changed?

Steve Banhegyi
steve@storytelling.co.za
www.storytelling.co.za

Fireside Chat

Experience and information processing

storytelling — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:54:30 -0600

The term information processing is used equally in information technology, psychology and the neurosciences to describe brain processes. In psychology, it refers to the operations by which people mentally manipulate what they learn and know about the world and information technology talks about information processing as the efforts to understand how we take in, process, access and store new information.

The brain’s purpose is to integrate information about the outside world together with information from inside the body. The purpose of this, as some have suggested, is to predict the future. To anticipate and engage with change in an adaptive way. Consciousness consists of monitor images of the inner and outer worlds; it can be seen as a container for the representation of all experiences.

The distinction between inside and outside origins of conscious experience is especially useful. In Kant’s terms, phenomena are events out there in the world and noumena are inner-generated conscious experiences. In the human mind, images of what is around us (the Mittelwelt) tend to be detailed and explicit in consciousness.

By contrast, monitor images from inside the body (the Eigenwelt) tend to be vague, fleeting and variable. You cannot see and understand your own internal organs without specialised training in anatomy and physiology. We are generally ignorant of internal processes and invent all manner of imaginary and irrelevant explanations for internal events. As a result our explanations for outside phenomena are very different from explanations of inside experiences.

The subjective Images from inside the brainbodymind can be called noumena. The brain places samples of its inner workings into consciousness – self-talk and dreams are all examples of normal noumena. Delusions and hallucinations are abnormal noumena. Noumena can be divided into images that resemble phenomena but are generated by the brain and images that originate from within the body and represent body states.

Information originating from inside the body is not clearly represented in consciousness. Inner senses belong to two groups - chemical and electronic. The more recently evolved electronic kind of sensing utilizes signals that travel along nerve networks that reach out to every cell in the body.

Images of the outside that are detailed and explicit in consciousness are called phenomena and representations of phenomena are said to be objective. The eye, for example, is a photon sensor that sends electronic signals to the occipital cortex and other regions of the brain that utilize visual input as information. The ear is a mechanical sensor that turns sound into electronic signals that are processed and experienced in and by the brain.

Consciousness is associated with awareness and vigilance. The unconscious animal will not experience the approaching predator but the conscious and vigilant animal maintains awareness of the local environment. Sensory receptors are tuned to features of the environment that may satisfy drives or signal danger.

There is much more happening in the world outside of us than we can ever understand and it is suggested that the human information processing system deals with approximately 11million bits of information at any one time. As demonstrated in many court cases, a detailed, complete account of a single moment or experience could easily consume many hours of documentation. As a result, we tend to simplify and approximate what is really going on. We dissect our Mittelwelt and Umwelt into discrete events (ignoring huge amounts of information in the process) and treat these events as the sole constituents of our experience, filtering the available information and specially selecting data that fits our habits and rejecting anything that does not. We describe what we are used to describing and we decide and act upon recognition - literally knowing again.

The continuous interaction of events in the brain and events in the world (noumena with phenomena) creates our experience of this world. The interface between phenomena and noumena result in the energy patterns in the world being transformed into a representational energy patterns in brains. The sense organs provide information for brain patterns to resonate with world events; these are experienced as perceptions and sensations.

Scientists refer to the continuously interacting and emerging events as a Mesh. From the point of view of this model, we are nodes or points of consciousness in the Cosmic mesh interacting with the mesh, warping it and forming an integral part of it.

Fireside Chat

The Codex Alimentarius Commission - who decides what food we eat?

KMAadmin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:53:53 -0600

"The Codex Alimentarius Commission envisages a world afforded the highest attainable levels of consumer protection including food safety and quality. To this end, the Commission will develop internationally agreed standards and related texts for use in domestic regulation and international trade in food that are based on scientific principles and fulfil the objectives of consumer health protection and fair practices in food trade.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission is an intergovernmental body with over 170 members, within the framework of the Joint Food Standards Programme established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), with the purpose of protecting the health of consumers and ensuring fair practices in the food trade. The Commission also promotes coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non governmental organizations.

The Codex Alimentarius (Latin, meaning Food Law or Code) is the result of the Commission’s work: a collection of internationally adopted food standards, guidelines, codes of practice and other recommendations."

STRATEGIC PLAN 2008–2013

This document sets out the Strategic Plan 2008–2013 for the Codex Alimentarius Commission, stating strategic goals of the Commission (Part1) and incorporating a list of programme areas and planned activities with a clearly defined timetable (Part 2). The strategic vision and goals for the Commission underpin the high priority attached to food safety by its parent organizations FAO and WHO.

Further information on these texts, or any other aspect of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, may be obtained from:

The Secretary
Codex Alimentarius Commission
Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00153 Rome, Italy
Fax: +39 06 57054593
E-mail: codex@fao.org
http://www.codexalimentarius.net

Programme areas and planned activities2008–2013

Goal 1: Promoting sound regulatory frameworks
Goal 2: Promoting widest and consistent application of scientific principles and risk analysis
Goal 3: Strengthening Codex work-management capabilities
Goal 4: Promoting cooperation between Codex and other relevant international organizations
Goal 5: Promoting maximum and effective participation of members

full strategic plan available for download hereunder.

Fireside Chat

Culture and Postmodernism

storytelling — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:00:34 -0600

Postmodernism is a term used by philosophers, social scientists, art and social critics to refer to aspects of contemporary art, culture, economics and social conditions that are the result of the unique features of late 20th and early 21st century life. These features include phenomena such as globalisation, consumerism, branding, the fragmentation of authority, and the knowledge economy. An important characteristic of postmodernism is that we now have myriad different symbols and metaphors through which we can view the world – these include politics, religion, consumerism, science, art etc... Anything that cannot be physically sensed, such as social justice or one's concept of God, must be referred to by metaphor and symbol. The result is that meaningful communication about issues such as families, politics, sexuality, crime & violence without the use of shared metaphors and symbols is impossible. Some common metaphors in use today include:

Religion and God
Science & Evolution
Romance and sexuality
Capitalism
Racism, supremacy and exclusivity
Psychology and "new age"
Power, entitlement, dominance and submission
Artistic and aesthetic worth
Traditional political categories (Left, Right, Centre, Independent etc.)
Wealth, poverty, disability and security
Philosophy

Your views and beliefs about the world most likely centre around some of these metaphors. For example, if you see the world in terms of cause-effect and experimentation, you are oriented toward science. If you experience the world as a place of wonder and beauty, you will be oriented towards art and aesthetic.

People who share metaphors can communicate effectively and work together constructively. People who do not share common metaphors experience communication difficulties and find it extremely difficult to see each other with anything beyond fear and hostility. Due to this lack of communication between groups, most discussions around important issues quickly degenerate due to the absence of real understanding.

Fireside Chat

Research Funding Toolkit

KMAadmin — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:45:52 -0600

Funding is vital for any research endeavour and writing funding proposals that have the desired impact is vital know-how. This Research Funding Toolkit toolkit can be found on the Global Development Network website. It provides tips and practical suggestions for applying for funding and proposal writing. It is based on interviews with experienced research fundraisers.

Proposal Writing and Fundraising Toolkit GDN Website

Contents of the toolkit:

This toolkit is divided into six sections. Here is a brief description of each section.

Before you start This section provides a list of things to consider before you start. Key points are grouped under what you should know about the potential donor and what you should know about yourself and your organization.
Writing the proposal This section provides a checklist of things to consider when writing a proposal, such as style, structure and clarity. Some useful links on proposal writing are also listed.
Budgeting Budgeting is a critical element of a proposal, and conveys to the donor whether an organization has the capacity to manage and account for monies in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. This section of our proposal guide outlines points to remember when you come to putting together a budget to justify the funds for which you are applying.
Guide to donors Most funding requests, estimated at 90 percent, are declined immediately, either because they fall outside a donor’s stated interest areas, or because they are inadequately prepared and do not reflect the organization’s expertise and its ability to carry out the project’s objectives. This section helps you to judge which donor to approach and how best to approach them, starting with general points followed by more detail on individual donors.
Institutional insights The case studies in this section has been compiled from researchers and institutional bodies in developing and developed countries. They provide useful insights and advice on many aspects of the proposal process, highlighting the reality of fundraising and key issues that should be considered by researchers and institutions alike.
Networking This section provides a guide to networking with donors and funders, highlighting the importance of forging and maintaining relationships.

Personal Knowledge Management Project

Fireside Chat Tagcloud

storytelling — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 01:11:08 -0600

Here is a quick overview of just some of the topics being spoken about in the Fireside Chat SIG.

Fireside Chat

The poverty of Empiricism

KMAadmin — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:47:56 -0600

Many researchers – and their advisors on research method – adopt a doctrine called empiricism, which claims that researchers may only use empirical methods. This restrictive doctrine impoverishes any academic discipline where it is dominant. The main reason is that a discipline only qualifies for the status of a science after it has progressed beyond empirical generalisations to explanatory theories; but although empirical methods are useful for discovering the former, they are inherently useless for creating the latter. So the empiricist doctrine retards scientific progress. Researchers should be aware of this danger, and research methodologists should attempt to counter it.

Introduction

There is a world of difference between the terms ‘empirical’ and ‘empiricism’. The term ‘empirical’ refers to a battery of very useful research methods. The term ‘empiricism’ refers to a restrictive methodological doctrine which claims that researchers may only use empirical methods. The purpose of this paper is not to disparage empirical research methods, but to warn readers that the empiricist doctrine impoverishes any discipline where it is deeply entrenched (Gower, 1997, p10), and to suggest some avenues of counteraction. The subsequent sections explain why the empiricist doctrine impoverishes research. The first section shows that researchers need knowledge of various kinds of research processes and knowledge products, and that this knowledge is distributed over three academic disciplines: Philosophy of Science, History of Science and Research Methodology. The next three sections examine the origin and current status of the empiricist doctrine in the Philosophy of Science, and the debilitating effect of empiricism on research process and product knowledge in the History of Science and in Research Methodology. The last section calls for counter-action in the form of meta-research aimed at identifying non-empirical research processes and knowledge products that could be mentioned in those three disciplines especially in Research Methodology.

As the argument in those sections is lengthy, no space is left over for detailed analysis of the impact of the empiricist doctrine on the Information Systems discipline, nor on any of the other disciplines under the umbrella of Informing Science. Readers are in vited to judge by themselves, from their personal experience, whether those disciplines are dominated by the empiricist doctrine, and whether that doctrine has impoverished them.

Methodological Knowledge

Research is a process of producing new knowledge. So it is a productive process similar to the productive processes of manufacturing cars, computers, software, etc. Some useful insights emerge by analysing the other productive processes and then comparing them with the research process.

All productive processes require productive knowledge. For example:

in order to produce cars, people need knowledge of car production;
in order to produce computers, they need knowledge of computer production;
in order to produce software, they need knowledge of software production.

Productive knowledge consists of process knowledge as well as product knowledge (see Mende,2000 for more detail). When manufacturers establish a new factory, they have to decide what the factory is to produce, and how the factory will produce it. So they need to know what kinds of manufactured products are needed, and what kinds of processes can be used to produce them. For example, when Henry Ford decided to produce motor cars, he had to know that people need cars, and that cars can be produced on a production line. Similarly, when researchers embark on a research project, they have to decide what knowledge product to produce and how to produce it. So they too need to know what kinds of knowledge products are required and what kinds of research processes can be used (Kantorovich, 1993, p11;Singleton, Straits & Straits, 1993, p18). For example, when Ohm embarked on his famous research project to find the empirical law of electric current variation with voltage, he had to be aware that people need empirical laws, and that empirical laws can be produced by means of inductive research processes. Similarly, when Darwin embarked on his famous research project on the theory of evolution, he had to be aware that people need theories, and that theories can be established by means of deductive research processes.

Therefore, by analogy with manufacturing management, researchers need knowledge of different types of research processes and knowledge products. Since this is knowledge about knowledge, it may be called ‘meta-knowledge’. For convenience of access, all our meta-knowledge should be concentrated in a single academic discipline. But that is not so. Instead, our meta-knowledge is scattered across three different disciplines, namely History of Science, Philosophy of Science and Research Methodology.

History of Science is an old-established discipline, which began with the ancient Greeks (Lloyd,1973). Today, it describes many of the knowledge products that were discovered by real-life researchers, and also some of the research processes that those researchers actually used. Philosophy of Science is another old-established discipline, which also began with the ancient Greeks. Today, it mainly analyses the validity of existing knowledge products, but occasionally considers the research processes too. Unfortunately, many publications in Philosophy of Science make scant reference to History of Science, and most of them ignore Research Methodology altogether.

Research Methodology is an emerging new discipline that aims to unify many of the methodological principles found in the various sciences and proto-sciences. During the latter half of the 20th century, specialised methodological branches have emerged in many of those disciplines to focus on issues of method. For example, in the natural sciences there are textbooks on experimental techniques of physics and chemistry, and on microscope techniques in biology and geology (Furniss, Hannaford, Smith, & Tatchell, 1989; Heinrich, 1965; Sanderson, 1994). In the social proto-sciences there are textbooks on experimental psychology, sociological method, anthropological research, educational research and business research (Cassell & Symon, 1994; Christensen, 1980; Cole, 1980; Foskett, 1965; Pelto & Pelto, 1978; Zikmund, 2003). Yet certain methods are common to many of these disciplines.

“The research procedures of most academic disciplines follow the dictates of the scientific method ... In many instances, only the tools of research are different. The biologist gathers data by way of the microscope, the sociologist does likewise through a questionnaire. From there on the basic procedure of each is the same: to process the data, interpret them, and reach a conclusion based on factual evidence.” (Leedy, 1989, p. vii).

The new discipline of Research Methodology identifies and explains these common research procedures. Unfortunately, most publications in Research Metholology make scant reference to Philosophy of Science and History of Science.

The three disciplines are subject to the force of fashion (Lovelock, 1995, p. 204; Nagel, 1961, p.115; Sperber, 1990). This force arises in any social group, including a community of scholars. A scholar in an academic discipline is subject to research fashions in the same way as anyone else is subject to clothing fashions, motorcar fashions, food fashions, etc. The next three sections focus on the empiricist fashion. It originated in the Philosophy of Science, where it is now dismissed with contempt; but has spread to History of Science, where it is still mildly influential, and to Research Methodology, where it remains dangerously dominant.

Philosophy of Science

The precursor of empiricism was a philosophical doctrine called positivism. This was a doctrine of neglect. It called for neglect of a particular class of knowledge products, namely theories, and especially those theories that involve un-observable first causes (Oldroyd, 1986, p. 169). Positivism originated in the 18th century, when Berkeley denied the reality of theoretical objects such as the Newtonian forces of mechanics (Losee, 1993, p. 168). Positivism was subsequently disseminated by two influential 19th century philosopher-scientists: the sociologist Comte, who asserted that ‘science must study only the laws of phenomena’, and the physicist Mach, who attempted to purge all theoretical terms from Mechanics (Losee, 1993, p. 170; Whewell, 1860, p. 183). Positivism was disseminated even more widely in the early 20th century, by a group of philosophers
called the Vienna Circle, who regarded theoretical objects as meaningless, and a theory as a mere computational device for describing and predicting phenomena (Harre, 1960, p. 46; Hollis, 1994,p. 42).

Empiricism (or inductivism) is the logical consequence of positivism for research processes. In the same way as positivism dismisses theory, the doctrine of empiricism dismisses deductive theoretical methods, and demands that researchers should restrict themselves to inductive empirical methods.

“induction ... is the method proposed by crude empiricism to distinguish scientific inquiry from non-scientific speculation” (Doyal & Harris, 1986, pp. 2-3).

The remainder of this section demonstrates that the positivist and empiricist doctrines are dangerously restrictive. These doctrines fail first to an inductive empirical argument, and then to a deductive explanatory argument.

The inductive argument is based on evidence from the History of Science, namely the many instances where empirical methods produced significantly less useful knowledge products than theoretical methods.

Empirical methods merely enabled Galileo to discover the law of falling, whereas theoretical methods enabled Newton to discover the theory of Mechanics.
Empirical methods merely enabled Ohm to discover the law of electrical resistance, whereas theoretical methods enabled Maxwell to discover the theory of electrodynamics.
Empirical methods merely enabled Proust to discover the law of constant proportions in chemical reactions, whereas theoretical methods enabled Dalton to discover the atomic theory of chemistry.
Empirical methods merely enabled Darwin to discover new biological species, whereas theoretical methods enabled him to discover the theory of biological evolution. etc., etc.

So, empirical methods were often less useful than theoretical methods. Now if today’s researchers were trapped into empiricism, they would be restricted to empirical methods, and would be unable to produce the more useful theories. Therefore empiricism would impoverish research.

The deductive argument against the positivist empiricist doctrines is based on two propositions of the modern Philosophy of Science:

A true science has an explanatory theory that is organised as a deductive system.
Empirical methods are inappropriate for creating explanatory theories.

Proposition 1 means that an academic discipline does not qualify for the status of a science until it has progressed beyond empirical generalizations to explanatory theories. For example, the branches of Physics and Astronomy now called Dynamics and Celestial Mechanics were labelled ‘natural philosophy’ at the time Galileo formulated his empirical laws of motion and Kepler for mulated his empirical laws of planetary orbits. They only achieved the status of sciences after Newton devised a deductive theory to explain Galileo’s laws and Kepler’s laws (Toulmin, 1953, p. 50). The first proposition is supported by the quotes in Table 1.

Table 1. The need for explanatory theories and deductive systems

Copi, 1979 - “No mere list or catalog of truths is ever said to constitute a system of knowledge or a science. We have scientific knowledge only when the propositions setting forth what we know are organized in a systematic way, to display their inter-relations ... one important relationship among the propositions of a science is deducibility. Propositions that embody knowledge about a subject become a science of that subject when they are arranged or ordered by displaying some of them as conclusions deduced from others” (p157).
Campbell, N. R., 1920 - “the more purely phenomenal a proposition is and the less the element of theory associated with it, the less is its certainty ... For why do we call some laws ‘empirical’ and associate with that term a slight element of distrust? Because such laws are not explained by any theory” (p153).
Harre, 1960 Harre & Secord, 1972 - “it has been one of the fundamental aims of science to reach deductive systems of knowledge” (p39).
“The experimental work of Hooke and Boyle by which they established the empirical patterns in the behaviour of confined samples of gas that we express as PV = K ... was proto-scientific. We do not have real science until we know why P varies inversely as V, knowledge which became available only after the molecular theory of gases was formulated to provide us with an idea of the causal mechanism by which this pattern was produced ... Science proper starts when the question ‘Why?’ is put and theory develops to answer it.” (p130-1).
Kantorovich, 1993 (p16). - “theory is one of the distinguishing characteristics of modern science”
Klee, 1997 - “explanation [is] the main business of science” (p4).
Mason & Bramble, 1978 - “the purpose of science is to develop theory, which can be defined as a set of formulations designed to explain and predict phenomena” (p3).
Phillips, 1985 - “One goal of the scientific method is explanation: a theory as to the causes and/or effects surrounding a given phenomenon” (p10).
McBurney, 1994 - “The ultimate goal of a science is the development of a theory to explain the lawful relationships that exist in a particular field” (p40).

Proposition 2, which asserts that empirical methods are inappropriate for creating explanatory theories, follows from the fact that empirical research involves inductive reasoning, whereas theoretical research involves deductive reasoning. Empirical methods induce generalisations from facts. Theoretical methods then explain the empirical generalisations by generating deductive arguments to the generalizations from first causes, which are usually un-observable. So inductive methods are useless for devising deductive explanatory theories.

This proposition is easy to confirm from cases in the History of Science. For instance, Newton made no observations or experiments, and analysed no data in devising the theory of Mechanics; neither did Dalton in devising the atomic theory of Chemistry, nor Darwin in devising the biological theory of evolution, nor Einstein in devising the relativity theory.

Table 2 provides further support from other authors.

Table 2. Inadequacy of empirical methods for creating explanatory theories

Timasheff, 1957 - “Theory cannot be derived from observation and generalizations merely by means of rigorous induction”.
Nagel, 1961 - “a theory cannot be an empirical generalization from observational data” (p85).
Koestler, 1969 "on Einstein’s own testimony the Michelson-Morley experiment ‘had no role in the foundation of the theory’ .... [It] was laid on theoretical, indeed speculative, considerations" (p243-4).
Popper, 1978 - “But what about the method by which we obtain our theories or hypotheses? ... I do not believe that we ever make inductive generalizations in the sense that we start with observations and try to derive our theories from them” (p19).
Hughes, 1990 “All the ‘facts’ Darwin used as evidence for his theory of evolution were known before he used them ... What Darwin contributed was a profoundly radical way of rearranging these materials” (p38).
Kantorovich, 1993 - “Inductive inference can generate empirical generalizations, but not explanatory theories ... Newton’s theory of universal gravitation cannot be inductively inferred from the data on planetary motion and even not from Kepler’s laws ...inductive generalization cannot lead from the data on gas behaviour, or from the empirical gas laws, to the kinetic theory of gases” (p66).

The positivist and empiricist doctrines now fail to a simple reductio ad absurdum. Science is characterised by the existence of deductive explanatory theory. Yet inductive empirical methods are inappropriate for creating deductive explanatory theory.

So inductive empirical methods are unlikely to produce a science. The empiricist doctrine restricts researchers to inductive empirical methods. So it impoverishes research by inhibiting progression to scientific status.Yet the aim of this doctrine is to ensure scientific status.Therefore empiricism is absurd. So empiricism is untenable in the Philosophy of Science. Indeed, some philosophers have rejected the absurd empiricist doctrine in the past, and many others reject it today – see table 3.

Table 3. Criticisms of Empiricism

Bacon, 1620 - “The Empiric school produces dogmas of a more deformed and montrous nature than the Sophistic or theoretic school (p29).
Bunge, 1967 “Empirical induction, i.e. generalization of observed cases, has been grossly overestimated by philosophers who have concentrated on the early (pretheoretical) stages of research” (p244).
"The [extent] of theoretical work measures then the degree of advancement of a science ... This is why psychology and sociology, despite their huge store of empirical data and low-level generalizations, are regarded as being still in an underdeveloped stage: because they do not abound with theories wide and deep enough to account for the available empirical material. Yet in these as well as in other underdeveloped departments of inquiry theorizing is frequently regarded as a luxury and data gathering – i.e. description – as the only decent occupation, to the point that theory (speculation) is opposed to research (data hunting). This paleoscientific attitude, encouraged by a primitive kind of empiricist philosophy, is largely responsible for the backwardness of the sciences of man” (p382).
Harre & Secord, 1972 - “A philosopher is often put in mind of the analogy to alchemy, where an enormous amount of empirical and experimental work was done, some of which was later incorporated into real chemistry, but most of which was vitiated because of an inadequate conceptual basis” (p3).
Gould, 1979 - “Great scientists ... are distinguished more by their powers of hunch and synthesis than by their skill in experiment and observation”.
Wartofsky, 1979 “early positivism, and its modifications in ... empiricism have failed” (p27)
Chalmers, 1982 “I regard the naïve inductivist account of science to be very wrong and dangerously misleading” (p11).
Doyal & Harris, 1986 "Traditional ideas about scientific method have been the target of much recent criticism. This has been directed particularly against empiricism ... The critics of empiricism claim that it never was and never could be the method of science and that the conscious or even unconscious adherence to its principles could retard progressive scientific discovery" (p1).
Hull, 1988 - “I had become increasingly dissatisfied through the years with the logical empiricist analysis of science that had been so popular for over a generation (xi).
Laudan, 1996 “the positivists had mistaken ideas both about the agenda for philosophy and about the solutions to certain prominent problems (p3).
Azevedo, 1997 “Current adherents to positivism and empiricism are considered ignorant and behind the times” (p258).

Nevertheless, empiricism still influences the other two disciplines that are concerned with research method.

History of Science

Historians of Science are subject to the force of fashion – particularly by fashions in the Philosophy of Science.

“The historiography of science, more than the history of other aspects of human thought, is peculiarly subject to philosophic fashion” (Hesse, 1980, p. 3).

Many older historians have been influenced by the old empiricist philosophy (Hesse, 1980, p. 4;Hollis, 1994, p. 42). So when they decide which processes and products to study, they are likely to over-emphasise empirical processes and products, and neglect theoretical processes and products (Hesse, 1980. p. 5). Therefore, historians may have missed potentially useful research products and processes.

Research Methodology

The authors of Research Metholology textbooks are also subject to the force of fashion. They have been influenced by two fashions, namely scientism and empiricism. Scientism was a pervasive research fashion until a few decades ago. According to this fashion, all scientists ought to emulate the ‘empirical-analytical’ method, which was supposedly used by
many natural scientists, particularly physicists.“The empirical-analytical method is the only valid approach to improve human knowledge.

What cannot be investigated by it, cannot be investigated scientifically at all and therefore must be banned from the domain of science as unresearchable and consequently as unpublishable, unfundable and almost as unspeakable” (Klein & Lyttinen, (1985).

Empiricism is the pervasive research fashion today ... see Table 4.

Table 4. The popularity of positivist empiricism

Von Bertalanffy, 1968 "Only collection of data and experiments were considered as being scientific in biology (and psychology); theory was equated with speculation or philosophy, forgetting that a mere accumulation of data, although steadily piling up, does not make a science" (p100).
Harre & Secord, 1972 “most psychologists have adopted a logical positivist metaphysics and the methodology that goes with it" (p32).
Easthope, 1974 “the tool – the scientific method – began to determine sociological aims” (p139).
Doyal & Harris, 1986 "Empiricism in its crudest form is probably the epistemology which is most generally accepted by people without philosophical training"(p2).
Miller, R. W. 1987 “At least as a working hypothesis, positivism is the most common philosophical outlook on science” (p4).
Hughes, 1990 - “I refer to positivism as the orthodoxy because, in some of its versions, it is the philosophical epistemology that currently holds intellectual sway within the domain of the social sciences” (p16).
Azevedo, 1997 - “For the greater part of this century [positivism] was the dominant philosophy of science and it has been influential in sociology since the discipline was first developed ... while positivism is no longer dominant in the philosophy of science, it still dominates sociology, at least in the United States” (p14+41).
Gower, 1997 - “The traditional accounts of scientific method, then, offer a logic of science which is biased ... heavily in favour of an empiricist epistemology and ontology” (p259)
The empiricist doctrine is reflected in most of the textbooks of Research Methodology that were published during the past four decades. Their authors insist that research should invariably, or normally, involve data collection (by observation, experiment, document study, etc.), and data analysis (by inductive statistical and/or interpretive methods).

The authors rarely state these norms explicitly, but rather let their readers infer them implicitly. They do that in three ways.
First, some authors simply define ‘research’ as a process of data collection and data analysis (e.g. Bailey, 1987, p. 11; Creswell, 1994, p. xvii; Erlandson, Harris, Skipper, & Allen, 1993, p. xvii; Leedy, 1989, p. 9; Miller, D. C., 1970, p. v; Neale & Liebert, 1986, p. 7; Riley, 1963, p. xiv; Tuckman, 1978, p. 12-14; Williamson, Karp, Dalphin & Gray, 1982, p. 4).

Second, other authors define ‘the scientific method’ as a process of data collection and data analysis (e.g. Bynner & Stribley, 1978, p. 4-8; Heiman, 1995, pp. 9, 19; Kerlinger, 1986, pp. 10-13; Labovitz & Hagedorn, 1976, p. 23; Leedy, 1989, p. 80; Lehmann & Mehrens, 1979, p. 3; Mason & Bramble, 1978, p. 26; McMillan & Schumacher, 1997, p. 9; Neuman, 1994, p. 8-11;
Rummel, 1964, p. 11-15; Williamson et al., 1982, pp. 6-8).

Third, others define the ‘hypothetico-deductive method’ as hypothesis deduction from theory followed by data collection and analysis, and recommend this method as the model of research in any science (e.g. Bailey, 1987, p. 39; McNeill, 1985, p. 42; Sekaran, 1992, p. 16, TerreBlanche & Durrheim, 1999, p. 4).

So the textbooks of Research Metholology either implicitly adopt the empiricist doctrine, by excluding all research methods other than the empirical methods, or explicitly adopt the empiricist doctrine, by suggesting that empiricism is necessary for an academic discipline to achieve scientific status. Examples are shown in Table 5.

Table 5. Empiricism in textbooks of Research Methods

Turney & Robb, 1971 “in [using] the scientific method .. the investigator ... collects, organizes, tabulates, and analyses his data” (p4).
Tuckman, 1978 - “Characteristics of the research process. Research is empirical” (p10-11).
Williamson, 1982 et al. -“Systematic research in any field of inquiry involves two basic operations... data collection [and] data analysis” (p4).
Phillips, 1985 - “we must proceed to collect data [and] analyze data” (xi)
Kerlinger, 1986 - “scientific investigation is empirical” (p11).
Bailey, 1987- “Each research project entails gathering data, analyzing data and interpreting data” (p11).
Erlandson et al., 1993 “we hope they find in this book a way of collecting, analyzing and reporting data” (xvii).
Singleton et al., 1993 “the foremost characteristic of scientific inquiry is that it is based on empiricism” (p30).
McBurney, 1994 - “Empiricism is an essential characteristic of science” (p7).
Cooper & Emory, 1995 - “This book is concerned with empiricism” (p23).
McMillan & Schumacher, 1997 “Research is characterized by a strong empirical attitude and approach ...” (p12).

There are at least three reasons why positivism and empiricism are popular among researchers and their methodological advisors. One reason is that “Today’s science teaching reflects yesterday’s philosophy of science” (Kantorovich, 1993, p. 255).

Another reason is that many research advisors know a great deal about confirming and falsifying theories, but know next to nothing about creating them (Phillips, 1985, p. 8). Furthermore, they seem to be unaware that their (physicist) role-models used not only inductive empirical methods of confirmation but also used deductive methods of discovery (Chalmers, 1982, pp. xv-xvi). So when authors write textbooks of Research Methodology, they would have no option but to emphasise the well-known empirical methods, and neglect the little-known theoretical methods.

Similarly, some authors may neglect theoretical methods because they are unaware of the deductive-explanatory role of theory (e.g. Breakwell, Hammond & Fife-Shaw, 1995, p. 5; Bynner & Stribley, 1978, pp. 4-9; Erlandson et al. 1993, p. 16, 50; Kerlinger, 1986, p. 9; Labovitz & Hagedorn, 1976, pp. 14-18; Leedy, 1989, p. 7; Mason & Bramble, 1978, p. 53; McNeill, 1985, p. 176;
Mouton & Marais, 1990, p. 143; McMillan & Schumacher, 1997, p. 8; Neuman, 1994, pp. 41-43; Sekaran, 1992, p. 20, Singleton et al., 1993, p. 23; Riley, 1963, p. 9; Terre Blanche & Durrheim, 1999, p. 404).

A third reason is that some researchers and their advisors have made a virtue of necessity. They confine themselves to empirical methods because theoretical methods have not yet been seen to succeed.

“A great many parts of physics are tied together with a strong interconnecting network of fundamental physical theory from which all other parts can be derived, so-called first principles. On the other hand we have fields ... where empiricism is the order of the day simply because there is no generally valid group of first principles from which to operate.” (Siever,1970, p. 23-4).

“In the early periods of developing a discipline from an applied field, initial efforts are usually directed more toward establishing empirical facts. Later, facts from separate studies can be synthesized and ultimately integrated into theories.” (McMillan & Schumacher, 1997, p. 22).

This explains why some authors, even though they are aware of deductive explanatory theory, nevertheless restrict their textbooks mainly or exclusively to empirical methods (e.g. Babbie,1989, p. 46; Heiman, 1995, p. 17; McBurney, 1994, p. 42; Miller, D. C., 1970, p. 9; Phillips, 1985, p. 11; Rosnow & Rosenthal, 1996, p. 39; Singleton et al., 1993, p. 23; Williamson et al.,
1982, p. 23).

Nevertheless, whatever the reason for conforming to the positivist-empiricist doctrine, that doctrine is absurd, and can therefore be harmful. It is likely to be harmful in at least two ways. First, if researchers are restricted to inductive empirical methods, they would be unable to produce deductive explanatory theories: so positivist empiricism would paralyse theoretical research. Sec-
ond, positivist empiricism is likely to affect the methodological selection mechanism. In the many academic disciplines that are dominated by positivist empiricism, researchers will tend to reject any Research Metholology textbook that fails to conform to the dominant fashion. So the authors will be motivated to conform too. The conformist textbooks would then reinforce the dominant fashion among research students.

Several other authors have expressed additional concerns, shown in table 6.

Table 6. Objections to positivism and empiricism

Harre & Secord, 1972 - “The need for ... a reformed methodology we feel to be pressing, and to be evident from the increasing dissatisfaction with the state of social psychology. The underlying reason for this state we believe to be a continued adherence to a positivist methodology, long after the theoretical justification for it, in naïve behaviourism, has been repudiated” (p1).
“what many psychologists and some other behavioural scientists are doing is overemphasizing empiricism at the expense of conceptualization, or fact at the expense of ideas. They are acting as if observation and experiment by themselves can create a science. This misplaced emphasis stems from an approach to science via logical positivism" (p36).
Chalmers, 1982 - "Many areas of study are described as sciences by their supporters, presumably in an effort to imply that the methods used are as firmly based and as potentially fruitful as in a traditional science such as physics. ... Self-avowed ‘scientists’ in such fields will often see themselves as following the empirical methods of physics, which for them means the collection of ‘facts’ by means of careful observation and experiment ... failing to realize that the method they endeavour to follow is not only necessarily barren and unfruitful but also is not the method to which the success of physics is to be attributed." (xv-xvi).
Azevedo, 1997 - "The desire of the abstracted empiricists to be scientific and their belief that positivism provided the scientific method led them to follow its prescriptions in a way never seen in the natural sciences, even in physics, of which positivism was an attempted, if unsuccessful model. They allowed ‘the scientific method’ to determine the sort of problems they took up and the ways in which they were formulated” (p15).

Research cultism. A research cult can form if a research fashion becomes self-perpetuating. Klein & Lyttinen (1985) have explained how this can happen. Suppose a specific set of research processes and knowledge products has become fashionable in a particular discipline. Then research supervisors who adopt that fashion will insist that their students use the fashionable research processes to produce the fashionable knowledge products. When these students in turn become supervisors, they too will insist that their students use the fashionable processes to produce the fashionable products. And so on.

Cults are likely to form around positivist-empiricism:

“All those who do not abide by the precepts of empiricism are thus threatened with excommunication from the bosom of science” (Doyal & Harris, 1986, p1).
Cults are particularly likely to form in academic disciplines that have not yet secured scientific status, which include the social ‘sciences’ and most other disciplines except the natural sciences.

“One of the livelier academic debates of recent years has concerned the scientific status of those disciplines gathered under the heading social sciences ... Academicians have disagreed about calling these disciplines sciences” (Babbie,1989 p30).

In these disciplines, an additional mechanism of cult formation is present. The leaders of these disciplines aspire to scientific status, but have not studied Philosophy of Science. So they are easily trapped by the positivist or empiricist doctrines. When that happens, it affects hiring and promotions, the funding of research projects, and the publication of research papers.

Accordingly,subordinate researchers are obliged either to accept those doctrines too, or else give up a research career. So a vicious circle forms, and those doctrines can dominate the entire discipline within a few decades. For example,

during the 1930’s and 40’s, a positivist cult probably formed in American Psychology. It was called behaviourism. Watson, Skinner, and their followers restricted psychological researchers to a program of naïve experimentalism, and repressed any attempt to use intervening variables in explaining human cognition (Cziko, 1995, p. 93; Gardner, 1985, p. 109; Harre & Secord, 1972, p. 136; Hothersall, 1990, p. 405).

during the 1980’s, an empiricist cult may have formed in Information Systems. American PhD supervisors restricted graduate students to a range of methods that were unable to answer questions of systems effectiveness (Klein & Lyttinen, 1985; Nissen, 1985). And funding committees imposed the same restrictions on researchers (Fitzgerald, Hirshheim, Mumford & Wood-Harper, 1985).

Positivist-empiricist cultism would intensify the harmful effects identified earlier. These cults would be dangerously restrictive, confining researchers to a narrow range of processes and products (Bauer, 1992, p. 75; Harre, 1981; Lovelock, 1995, p. xvii; Whitley, 1984, p. 146). In particular, they would paralyse theoretical research, and that would – ironically – prevent an academic
discipline from achieving scientific status. The failure to achieve scientific status may then step up the vicious circle. Academic leaders would attribute the failure to insufficiency of empirical research, and increase their efforts to eliminate non-empirical research. As a result, empiricist cultism can retard progress for decades – as happened in Psychology sixty years ago, and as may be happening in Information Systems today.

Positivist and empiricist cultism are also likely to affect the methodological selection mechanism. For instance, if an academic discipline is dominated by an empiricist cult, then researchers would be strongly discouraged from doing any non-empirical work, and would avoid buying any Research Metholology books that do not conform to the ruling empiricist doctrine. So when methodologists write metholology textbooks, or teach metholology courses, they would be totally rejected unless they conform to the empiricist mould. Therefore, if many academic disciplines are dominated by empiricist cults, the demand for on-empiricist Research Metholology books would shrink to extinction, and publishers would avoid such books. This would account for the flood of empiricist textbooks of Research Metholology that is reaching the bookshops today.

In summary, then, the emerging discipline of Research Methodology is facing some very serious problems. Methodologists may be inhibited by research fashions. They are probably inhibited by the empiricist fashion (or even cult), which is likely to paralyse theoretical research. As a result, methodologists have probably missed many useful research processes and knowledge products.

Content analysis. This suspicion was confirmed by analysing a sample of Research Metholology textbooks whose authors appear to have minimum bias towards positivist empiricism. Table 7 identifies the actual research processes mentioned in these textbooks, and lists them in empirical and non-empirical columns.

Table 7. Content Analysis of Research Metholology textbooks

Riley, 1963 - Experiment (21), document study (21), observation (22), questioning (22), participant observation & questioning (22), qualitative description (22), measurement (23), sampling (283), measurement (328), statistical analysis (404), trend study (550), experiment (612). - Theory extension (27), hypothesis deduction from
theory (28).

Rummel, 1964 - Sampling (66), observation (84), interview (99), document analysis (163), experimental design (178),
scaling (198).

Williamson et al., 1982 - Measurement (63), sampling (103), survey (125), interview (163), participant observation (192), experiment (214), historical analysis (239), content analysis (260), aggregate analysis (260), statistical analysis (377).
Phillips, 1985 Measurement (107), sampling (175), survey (211), observation (291), experiment (323), simulation
(353), cross tabulation (419), statistical analysis (471).

Neale & Liebert, Case history (26), sampling (31), measurement (34), survey (49), Mill’s methods (91), validity (98), experimental design (134), passive observation (227).
Bailey, 1987 - Measurement (59), sampling (79), questionnaire, Deductive theory (104), interview (173), experimental design (213), construction (444). observation (238), document study (290), simulation (317), statistical analysis (384).
Babbie, 1989 - Grounded theory construction (51), sampling (163), experiment (211), survey (235), field observation (260), content analysis (293), secondary analysis (310), historical analysis (317), statistical analysis (368+435). - Hypothesis deducation from theory (3)
Leedy, 1989 - Historical analysis (125), questionnaire (142), interview (148), sampling (151), analytic survey (174),
experiment (217).

Sekaran, 1992 - Conceptual modelling (63), experimental design (114), measurement (148), reliability & validity tion from theory (171), interview (190), questionnaire (200), sampling (79). (223), statistical analysis (258).
Singleton et al.,1993 - Measurement (100), sampling (136), experimental design (179), survey (246), field observation (316), using available data (354), historical analysis (373). - Deductive reasoning(44)
McBurney, 1994 Control (141), naturalistic observation (175), participant observation (171), case study (179), question-
naire (194), sampling (202), experimental design(221), statistical nalysis (411).

Breakwell et al., 1995 Measurement (38), experimental design (50), survey Meta analysis 1995 (99), sampling (104), facet analysis (116), questionnaire (174), direct observation (213), interview(230), discourse analysis (243), scalogram analysis (259), historical analysis (314), statistical analysis(338). Meta Analysis (386)
Rosnow & Rosenexthal, 1996 Measurement (94), reliability & validity (121), eperimental design (143), survey (188), statistical analysis (213).

Elmes, et al., 1999 Measurement (187), experiment (256), complex experiment (235), small-n experiment (259), quasi-
experiment (259), interpretation (299).

Zikmund, 2003 - Qualitative analysis (109), survey (174), observation Theory building(234), experiment (256), measurement (292), sampling (368), data analysis (452).

Note: The name ‘grounded theory’ does not actually refer to a deductive explanatory theory, but rather to a group of related empirical propositions. A more realistic name would be ‘empirical model’.

Table 7 has two implications. First, the non-empirical column has relatively few entries. So even though the textbooks were selected for minimum bias, each one actually has a very strong positivist/empiricist bias. Generalising from the sample, one would therefore expect that most textbooks of Research Metholology are biased towards positivist empiricism.

Second, few such books provide any coverage of several important research processes that have been mentioned by philosophers and historians of science. For instance:

Serendipity, to find a proposition about one type of object while studying another type of object (Bauer, 1992, pp. 87, 111, 118, 121; Boden, 1990. pp. 15, 49, 218; Bundy, 1997, p. 21; Campbell, D. T., 1974, pp. 427, 435; Chalmers, 1982, p. 34; Csikszentmihalyi, 1996, p. 196; Harre, 1985, p. 172; Kantorovich, 1993, pp. 3, 7, 101, 148-171, 154, 166, 180, 223; Miller,
A. I., 1996, pp. 95, 374, 375; Popper, 1979, p. 108; Singleton et al., 1993, p. 29; Whewell, 1860, pp. 119-121; Wuketits, 1990, p. 164; Ziman, 1978, pp. 131, 139, 148).

Conjecture, to guess a potential solution to a problem (Bauer, 1992, p. 45+111; Bundy, 1997, p. 22; Campbell, D. T. 1974, p. 427;Campbell, N. R., 1920, p. 225; Chalmers, 1982, p.44; Einstein & Infeld, 1938, p. 47; Gower, 1997, pp. 43, 118, 125; Harre, 1960, p. 175, 1970, pp. 39, 42, 46, 52; 1985, pp. 171, 180; Harre & Secord, 1972, pp. 73, 76, 180; Hesse, 1974, pp. 89, 204; Hollis, 1994, p. 64; Hughes, 1990, pp. 61, 90; Kantorovich, 1993, pp. 39, 59, 61, 175; Koestler, 1969, p. 200; Losee, 1993, p. 121; Miller, A. I., 1996, pp. 79, 93, 97, 205, 337, 351, 369, 445; Newton-Smith, 1981, pp. 62, 211; Pantin, 1968, p. 121; Popper,
1979, pp. 31, 277; Ruse, 1998, p. 46; Thouless, 1953, p. 71+74; Whewell, 1860, pp. 133, 139-146, 174; Wilson, E. O., 1998, pp. 52-53; Ziman, 1978, pp. 22, 24, 30, 31, 88, 91, 101, 132, 139).

Thought experiment, to generate theoretical models by imagining a situation and then using its features as premises of an inductive or deductive argument (Azevedo, 1997, p. 56; Brown, 1992, p. 34; Gower, 1997, p. 31; Klee, 1997, p. 60; Miller, R. W., 1987, p. 63; Miller, A. I., 1996, pp. 7, 29, 109, 114, 128, 205, 258, 364, 375; Pratt, 1978, p. 87).
Logical deduction, to explain observable empirical regularities from unobservable first causes (Azevedo, 1997, pp. 15, 41, 44, 157; Campbell, N. R., 1920, pp. 108, 116, 123, 128, 146; Chalmers, 1982, p. 5; Doyal & Harris, 1986, pp. 94, 96; Gower, 1997, pp. 37, 120, 194; Harre, 1970, p. 15, 1985, pp. 38, 54; Hollis, 1994, pp. 31, 62, 63; Hughes, 1990, pp. 51, 52; Kantorovich, 1993, pp. 28, 64, 66, 127; Klee, 1997, p. 107; Losee, 1993, p. 158; Miller, R.W., 1987, pp. 18, 40, 226; Miller, A. I., 1996, pp. 40, 205, 351, 403, 408; Nagel, 1961, pp. 21, 31, 65; Newton-Smith, 1981, p. 212; Pantin, 1968, p. 100; Popper, 1959, p. 32; Pratt, 1978, p. 84; Ruse, 1998, p. 150; Ryan, 1970, pp. 46, 49, 128, 199, 200; Whewell, 1860, pp. 137, 174, 193; Wilson, E. O., 1998, p. 28; Wuketits, 1990, p. 170; Ziman, 1978, pp. 18, 33, 140).
Teleological methods, to identify human purposes and connect them to human actions (Doyal & Harris, 1986, p. 52-63; Nagel, 1961, pp. 23-25, 401-428, 532-535, 411-418, 422-424;.Ryan, 1970, p. 140)

Therefore methodologists have indeed omitted many useful research processes and knowledge products. Consequently:

The impoverished empiricist textbooks of Research Metholology cannot qualify as comprehensive sources of research processes and knowledge products.

Researchers who rely exclusively on those books are likely to find themselves in a methodological rut.

Academic research programs that refer students exclusively to those books may lead the next generation of researchers into a methodological rut.

Research on Research

The prevalence of empiricism casts serious doubts on the methodological recommendations of History of Science, and especially Research Methodology. So there is a need for corrective action.

When people seek practical advice on how to do research, they are more likely to select textbooks entitled ‘Research Methods’ than textbooks entitled ‘Philosophy of Science’ or ‘History of Science’. They would be justified in doing so because, firstly, the title ‘Research Methods’ is more obviously relevant to the work of researchers, and secondly, because authors in Philosophy of
Science and History of Science rarely aim to provide practical advice on how to do research. So the corrective action should mainly be aimed at the emerging discipline of Research Methodology.

Authors in this discipline could do several things.

They could try to undermine empiricist cults. The obvious approach is to point out that empirical research alone cannot produce deductive explanatory theories, and is therefore likely to retard progress towards scientific status. A more devious approach would be to manipulate the fashion process. If academic opinion leaders want to retain their leadership posi tions, they should not be seen to support unfashionable policies (Sperber, 1990). So the leaders might well abandon positivist empiricism if they were to suspect that this doctrine was going out of fashion. That suspicion could perhaps be raised by drawing their attention to some of the criticisms of positivism and empiricism that were quoted above.

They could try to transform Research Metholology into a science by producing an explanatory theory of research method.

Most importantly, they could try to establish a comprehensive classification of needed knowledge products and a corresponding battery of research processes.

To establish the classification of products and the battery of processes, methodologists should not merely debate issues of research, but should practice what they preach, by doing research on research. Hundreds of research projects could be carried out to find new research processes and knowledge products. To begin, these projects could simply import existing processes and products from related disciplines.
Several processes and products could be imported into Research Metholology from the History of Science (Phillips, 1985 p14). The historians describe processes that scientists have actually used (e.g. Bowler, 1992; Brock, 1992; Cardwell, 1994; Mayr, 1982; Miller, 1996; North, 1994; Pais, 1982; Singer, 1959; Smith, 1997). In particular, they could look for non-empirical methods such as mathematical and logical deduction.

Several processes and products could be imported from the Philosophy of Science. For instance, several authors have suggested taking advantage of analogies between the systems studied by different disciplines (Harre, 1960, 1970, 1985; Hesse, 1963, 1974; Nagel, 1961; Ryan, 1970).
Further processes could perhaps be imported from Cognitive Psychology. For instance, several authors have described human methods of problem solving and invention (De Bono, 1967-1992; Hadamard, 1945; Polya, 1954, 1957). The aim of most research projects is to solve a problem or a puzzle (Kuhn, 1970, pp. 139, 151, 161; Laudan, 1977; McBurney,1994, p. 53). The solution often involves invention (Bronowski, 1973, p. 10; Harre, 1970, 1985; Hughes, 1990; Kantorovich, 1993; Ruse, 1998; Whewell, 1860; Ziman, 1978). Therefore these cognitive methods could be used for research purposes. As hybrids that include both empirical and non-empirical components, they enable a researcher to tackle a problem both ways.
Further hybrids could perhaps be imported from Engineering and Management, which contain methods such as designing and planning (Brown, 1988; Drucker, 1985; Goldberg & Sifonis, 1994; Peters, 1997; Pollard, 1974, 1978). These methods could be adapted for use in creating new knowledge.
Further hybrids could probably be imported from Systems Theory. Methods such as systems analysis and modelling could be used in solving research problems (Blanchard & Fabrycky, 1981; Checkland, 1981; Cleland & King, 1975; Robertshaw, Mecca, & Rerick, 1978; Schoderbek, Schoderbek, & Kefalas, 1990; Troncale, 1988; Wilson, B. 1990). In particular, Von Bertalanffy (1968) has suggested that a special type of analogy called a homology can be used for knowledge transfer between different disciplines.

Conclusion

The previous sections have shown that the empiricist doctrine is dangerause, because it impoverishes research with its absurd claim that researchers should use empirical methods exclusively. In particular:

researchers need knowledge of both the methods of research and the products of research, and this knowledge is available not only in textbooks of Research Metholology but also in the History of Science and the Philosophy of Science

empirical research merely produces isolated empirical generalisations, whereas theoretical research integrates them into a comprehensive explanatory system, and as ‘the whole is greater than the sum of the parts’, a broad theory is more useful than a set of isolated generalizations
inductive empirical research methods are not appropriate for producing deductive explanatory theories, and because the empiricist doctrine restricts its adherents to empirical methods, it confines them to producing the less-useful generalizations, and prevents them producing the more useful theories
an academic discipline only qualifies for the status of a science when it has progressed beyond empirical generalizations to explanatory theories, and as the empiricist doctrine restricts its adherents to empirical methods, it prevents them from progressing to scientific status
yet empiricism is firmly entrenched in many academic disciplines; so researchers should ask themselves ’have I been influenced by this doctrine, either wittingly or unwittingly?’ - and if so, they should reject it vigorously!

Further work is necessary to assess the extent to which empiricism has entrenched itself in the Information Systems discipline – and still remains entrenched – as also in the other disciplines under the umbrella of Informing Science, and to assess the extent to which it has impoverished previous research – and is impoverishing current research. The present author’s personal experience suggests that empiricism has strongly influenced the Information Systems discipline, although its influence is beginning to decline. So there is hope for the future. In particular, someone may soon break out of the inductive empiricist mould and devise a deductive theory of IS that explains the many empirical findings of the previous decades.

References

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Biography

Jens Mende has a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics, a diploma in computer science, a master’s in management, and fifteen years’ practical experience, mainly in information system analysis, design and programming. He has spent the last twenty-five years at the University of the Witwatersrand, teaching programming, system design, IS management and report writing. He has published three dozen papers on computer education, system design and IS management, and has written another two dozen on logic, report writing, research method and evolution everywhere.

Jens passed away in 2007 and this resource is based on his original manuscript.

Fireside Chat

KM leadership

maphuti — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 05:31:53 -0600

Looking at the state of KM in the public sector and more specifically SA, one cannot help but wonder why it is that we still battle to understand and properly implement KM in our government departments and state agencies when we have many of the so called 'KM gurus'. for example, I have heared about a few people in the country who are highly respected and acknowledged as successful KM managers or KM gurus. Some of these gurus are in fact working for the very same government departments and some for state agencies but the question I think the government fails to ask is 'what exactly do these gurus or specialists doing to assist in uplifting not only the practice of KM but its application within the public sector as well as empowering of young inexperienced KM professionals.

A question I have as a KM professional is this 'how do we expect other people to share their knowledge and expertise when we as KM professionals ourselves cannot do that'? I think we must apply the saying ' good manners start at home' by first looking critically at what we do, how we do it, when, with whom and what impact does our actions have on another person and or within our organizations before we start making noise about 'the' difficult people within our work environments who are not willing to share their knowledge and transfer relevant skills to others.

Assumingly as KM professionals we know that populating the intranet, depositing all whole lot of documents in our IT systems, creating impressive databases and designs and forwarding presentations, newsletters, articles and many more do not by itself mean that we are empowering one another. Why is it that we hide information from one another but then expect other people not to do the same?Going back to the question I started with- 'with so many acknowledged, respected and in some cases, self-proclaimed KM gurus why do the public sector still seem to battle implementing KM? Where are these gurus, what are they doing to assist the public sector or even public sector professionals to implement KM within their own environments? Are we selfish as KM professionals? Maybe at the end of the day we are simply just trying very hard to convince people to do something that we ourselves do not believe in.Are we just interested in occupying those boards and executive positions without giving back to the very same government that put us in those positions in the first place? Are we scared that if we try to assist upcoming KM professionals then they will take over our positions? I have many many more questions that arise from the observations I have made, the results of which makes it difficult to believe that at the end there will be a successful KM story to tell which is of course a very sad and unpleasant sight. Let us not bombard one another with hundred articles that any other person can simply get from another person or by simply just browsing and searching Google- let us share real practical experiences, let us show others what we have done as KM professionals, describe how we did that, advice and assist others to do not only the same but even better in their own environments.

Fireside Chat

How much is a Billion, really?

KMAadmin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:46:37 -0600

Here is an interesting fact: In America, a billion is a thousand million written thus 1,000,000,000

However, in England, the British define a billion as a million million. That is 1,000,000 times 1,000,000 which would be written thus 1,000,000,000,000

Once you get past eight zeroes, the British names do not match the American names. For example, a number followed by 9 zeroes is in the British "milliards" but the American "trillions". In other words, the British Numbering System is completely different from the American Numbering System after the thousands and millions. Thousand and Million are the same, but then you see Milliard, Billion, Billiard, Trillion, Trilliard, etc.

American / British / No of Zeros

Thousand / Thousand / 3 / 000

Million / Million / 6 / 000000

Billion / Milliard / 9 / 000000000

Trillion / Billion / 12 / 000000000000

Quadrillion / Thousand Billion / 15 / 000000000000000

Quintillion / Trillion / 18 / 000000000000000000

This is important not only for economics but also for science - when you hear Billion and Trillions being bandied about, we need to be clear about whether we are talking about the British or American system. So, is that the American one thousand million equals a billion world, or the British one million million equals a billion world? This is important as it is the difference between 2,000,000,000,000,000 degrees C and 2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 degrees C.

You can find out more about the British and American numbering systems at Numbering Systems and Place Value Website Additionally, the site looks at other naming systems for large numbers such as the Googols and Googolplexes.

Fireside Chat

Service Delivery

africanstory — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:10:31 -0600

Many people in government and in the ANC do not agree that service delivery has failed in South Africa. It seems there is no agreement about what is Service Delivery or how it should be brought about or made to happen. Many people also do not know why it was called Service Delivery in the first place; but the unending spate of public protests definitely spells it out loud and clear that there is something wrong with Service Delivery in South Africa.

Service Delivery is a collective term and may include a vast array of factors residing almost in all spheres of government, communities and municipalities which may make it possible to achieve success in improving the quality of life of ordinary South Africans.

For a system to function well, all its subsystems should be in place and also functioning well. A system failure like the one seen in service delivery failure in South Africa can be compared to a medical syndrome situation. There are so many things going wrong and not working such that fixing one or two subsystems may not guarantee success or general good health of the system. Everything seem to be ailing in local government.

Local government needs commitment from its leadership to do the right things first, and do them right. The only unfailing indicator of the persistence of the problem is the amount of resources: human, material and monetary, that the sector sucks up without any positive results. It’s like buying fuel and paying for it, but not reaching the destination. We are somewhere many millions of miles away from our stated objectives.

South African municipalities are in the ICU and are kept on the life support system. Maybe the doctor has to pull off the plug. Perhaps it is the only way to make sure that new ideas, new leadership and new ways of doing things can be allowed to emerge and correct the situation. In the meantime the patient vehemently denies that they need emergency help and are chronically sick … and we wait and wait…. For the inevitable….

By Chakijane - (Due to my current involvement in local government it is unfair and contrary to confidentiality agreements to divulge my identity).

Fireside Chat

Feedback, learning and change

storytelling — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:02:49 -0600

When most of us were at school failure was seen as something that was negative, should be avoided and often worth punishment. And yet most learning theorists agree that it is only through failure that we really learn – as opposed to just memorising. Failure is useful when it helps us critically appraise our own performance. This is evaluation is an example of feedback. A simple way to think of feedback is experiencing the output of your own performance as a new input.

Students of psychology and education are becoming increasingly aware of the vital role that feedback plays in how we learn. All complex systems (like your body, your organisation, your family, your community) change their behaviour or learn through feedback - even if this means weaving in and out of the best path (like Wiener’s boat example) rather than sticking to the best path in any strict way.

The concept of feedback was developed by Norbert Wiener, who used the analogy of someone steering a boat: “When the boat deviates from the present course, say to the right, the steersman assesses the deviation and then countersteers by moving the rudder to the left. This decreases the boat's deviation, perhaps even to the point of moving through the correct position and then deviating to the left. At some time during this movement the steersman makes a new assessment of the boat's deviation, countersteers accordingly, assesses the deviation again, and so on. Thus he relies on continual feedback to keep the boat on course, its actual trajectory oscillating around the present direction. The skill of steering a boat consists in keeping these oscillations as smooth as possible.” (Capra 1996:57)

Even if you cannot predict the outcome, turning up the volume of feedback will always produce more sustainable results. As long as all the bits are talking to each other, something better will emerge. Feedback can be seen as a flow of information, in the in-between spaces, that constantly invites new responses from all the parts, improving the quality of all relationships within the system and allowing a system to learn how to do more for less effort. Sometimes something completely new and unexpected can arise out of the in-between spaces and take the whole system to another level.

Feedback allows you to make those corrections to your own behaviour that are necessary to lift your performance to another level. But how, and from where, can we get effective, reliable and performance enhancing feedback in the systems in which we live and the organisations in which we work?

Many people respond quite negatively to feedback, irrespective of how well intentioned it might be. Many people resist useful feedback because they fear failure and rejection. They therefore experience critical feedback as a personal attack. People who live in short timeframes experience critical feedback as something that defines them as a failure. By contrast, people who live in long timeframes experience critical feedback as data on how to succeed and grow on their own learning path.

Those who resist feedback are unlikely to change their behaviour when they receive it. This has important implications for the way your organisation deals with performance appraisals and the way it helps members design career paths. Opportunities for feedback are often misappropriated to make people feel worthless and incompetent. For feedback to be effective, organisations have to link feedback and learning and commit to both as core values in their corporate cultures.

One solution is to engage feedback as an ongoing conversation in your organisation, rather than a formal summary of someone’s performance, at a single and arbitrary point in time, with an abstract mark attached to it.

if you are not failing at something, you aren't learning anything new

People often fear their appraisals or assessments, whereas they could be looking forward to an opportunity to learn and to grow both themselves and the organisation. This is what Weiner called “reciprocal modification” – the change in me is a change in you. This ongoing “conversation” is what is often referred to as continuous assessment as opposed to summative assessment.

Effective feedback also has implications for top performers. In the old days people who were getting 80% were “better” than everyone else and did not have to try as hard. In the philosophy of Outcomes-Based Education, people should not be measured against each other. Individuals should be measured against their own potential and expectations. If they are getting high marks it does not mean they can rest in the knowledge of their superiority. It means it is time to find a new growing edge, a new challenge on their learning path. If you are not failing at something you are not learning anything new.

Members of your organisation need to be coached in the mechanisms and dynamics of effective feedback and how it relates to their own learning path. They need to begin to see feedback as an opportunity to improve and grow rather than as a personal attack or a defining statement of their identity. It should also help people to experience their lives in long timeframes in which criticism doesn’t define them but is experienced as useful information on a long and fruitful learning path. It should also encourage them to experiment with behavioural changes in a way that is slightly demanding, but is relatively safe, enjoyable, creative and rewarding.

Some questions about the feedback you're getting

How are you providing feedback?
Is it working?
How would you know that it is working?
How do you respond to feedback?
Are you growing?
What tells you that you are growing?
What are the current mechanisms of feedback in your organisation?
How could you evaluate and improve their function?
How does cooperation pay in your organisation?
Are you ready to experiment with new feedback processes?

From Art & Science of Change - A Resource for Management and Leadership - (ISBN-978-0-9802550-3-4) Ubuhibi Media used with permission

Fireside Chat

About Paradigms and Change

storytelling — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:54:21 -0600

A paradigm is a self-consistent set of ideas and beliefs which acts as a filter, influencing how we perceive and make sense of the world. The way in which we often structure our organisations is based on the model of a Egyptian pyramid and is an example of a paradigm. Other examples of paradigms include – how to make bread, what a bed looks like, the characteristics of a chair that lend the idea of “chairness”, the general features of a ship or an aircraft and so on. The term was first used by Thomas Kuhn in “the structure of scientific revolutions” (1962) to describe the the impact of change within the ruling theory of science when fundamental assumptions changed. Kuhn argued that the history of science is not a linear and continuous assimilation of facts but rather a number of revolutions in which new paradigms or new ways of seeing the world, entirely replace the old. Some of his conclusions include:

No matter how flawed, no paradigm can shift until there is a new paradigm to replace it.
Most paradigms shift when enough of the people who supported the old paradigm die.
Paradigms shift because their internal contradictions become unsustainable. This implies that one way to shift paradigms is to reinforce the internal contradictions. An important reason why Apartheid crumbled, for example, is that it became increasingly unprofitable.
Paradigms also shift as a result of the introduction of new metaphors. Kuhn suggested that the most consequential characteristic of a scientific revolution is “central change of model, metaphor, or analogy - a change in one’s sense of what is similar to what, and of what is different.” This usually occurs when different disciplines intersect and there is a “cross-pollination” of metaphor sets leading to a new way of “seeing” the world.
A paradigm is a constellation of concepts, values, perceptions and practices shared by a community, which forms a particular vision of reality that is the basis of the way a community organises itself. (Fritjof Capra 1997:6)
A paradigm at the heart of a culture can influence perception and meaning: if we believe that there is a culture of entitlement, we will hear and remember words that support that frame. In addition, the prevailing paradigm encourages certain types of behaviour. If everyone believes there is a blame culture, it is likely that people will behave in blaming ways. In this way, the paradigm becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, a sort of filter which helps make life manageable and gives us a sense of stability in a changing world.

However, it is not the existence of paradigms which can cause difficulties but their stability. Even when a paradigm is no longer useful it will tend to cling on, continuing to filter perceptions. Like culture, paradigms emerge from the interactions between the individuals within the community. They become apparent when they are named and characterised. And when enough people language their reality frequently, it has the quality of becoming “real”.

The term “paradigm shift” has found uses in a number of other contexts including a radical change in personal beliefs, a change in complex systems or organisations and replacing the former way of thinking with a radically different way of thinking.

Fireside Chat

How to decode your position of power

eugenie — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:01:18 -0600

While we all know something about power, working in conflict or change management requires a clear understanding of power and how to decode and understand it. So what is power really and how is it constructed? Our world identifies certain individuals as 'having power' and then proceeds to make them more powerful by talking about them in the media. Politicians, high profile business leaders, characters from the entertainment industry and those frequently in the public eye are often said to examples of ‘powerful people’.

A useful way of decoding any phenomenon is to go beyond the 'what is it?' question and rather look at 'what does it do?'. In organisations, power can do many things. It can speed things up, slow things down, alter trajectory, transform our understanding of ‘what is going on’ and divert attention to something altogether different. We each have some measure of power and your position of power could be defined by:

Knowing what you want – having a clear vision of where you are going
The timeframes of your visions and strategies – how far into the future does your story go? (tip: a Long Timeframe contains a greater sense of power than than visions with short timeframes)
The way you talk and think about yourself and your frustrations
Your ability to learn & pay attention
Authority over the way others perceive you and what they say about you
Your choice of language and metaphors
Control over the money and the PIN numbers
Control over the story (are you in your own story or someone else’s story?)
Ability to mete out brutality and violence in all its forms (such as exclusion / ostracising, disapproval, withholding sex and intimacy, firing, physical punishment, active / passive aggression etc..)
Knowledge / Know-How
Freedom of choice
Your ability to sacrifice / let go / move on / forget the past
Access to powerful, interesting people in positions of power (who are as smart or smarter than you are)
Know-how to access to information that will help your get what you want
The ability to tell a good story that arouses emotion on others
Access to the internet and an interest in communication & networking technology
Access to software tools that enable you to stay current and in touch with thought leadership from diverse fields
Having a good story to tell
Having interesting stimulating people with budgets whom you tell your story to
Your preparedness to experiment and try new things
The ability to network powerfully with the people with whom you desire to network
The scary stories people tell about you, particularly tales of what you have done in the past / the mythologies of violence you have enacted
The ability to make people uneasy or frightened and your ability to be unpredictable & ruthless (you might be able to do this better than you think!)
Your ability to actively work and play with your own metaphors
Keeping up with new metaphors, jargon
The ability to say NO and to absolutely, positively mean it
The ability to say YES and to absolutely, positively mean it
Knowing about power and how it works

Steve Banhegyi steve@storytelling.co.za
used with permission from the Trans4mation Blog

Fireside Chat

A 'strange duck in the botanical pond'

soekershof — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:16:39 -0600

We can tell you a lot about our little enterprise and what we do. But rather google to Soekershof to find out via diverse angles or for a brief overview Soekershof Website

We are dealing with 2 issues:

1) Soekershof is located in the Klaas Voogds area in the Robertson Wine Valley; one of the main wine producing areas in South Africa. There are some high quality wines but also the FAS-percentage in the Robertson Wine Valley is high. (FAS = Fetal Alcohol Syndrome). An estimate of a representive of the local municipality is "around 70 percent"; equally divided between the different cultures. Although even some wine cellars are really doing their best to battle with this issue it's like fighting a landslide with your bare hands. Diverse initiatives are undertaken with more, less but mainly no success.
As employer we are continuously confronted with lies, half truths and silly excuses of FAS-effected staff. Last year this resulted in the dismissal of staff that had been working here several years and in whom we invested a lot of time and money in diverse (training) programs but seemingly without result. At this stage half of the staff is FAS-effected and to keep these employees a little bit under control we sometimes have to be very harsh to them and that is against our culture of open and flat communication regardless cultural backgrounds etc.

2) Soekershof will never be a mainstream attraction and we do not intend to grow into a tourist trap. On the other hand profits have to be generated in order to survive. Most South Africans know Robertson as a wine producing area and what more: "Free wine tasting". Of other activities in Robertson and surrounds most people have never heard. With other words; the region as a total all in tourist destination is very much undermarketed. The local tourism bureau is situated in the building of the Wine Trust, etc. It's with other words subsidised to promote wine cellars and their accommodating members. It's also the reason we are not a member (anymore); why putting annualy 800 Rand in an organisation that does not promote everything? As non-wine producing and not locally owned entity we are fully on our own in promoting ourselves and with us this beautiful valley as a destination with unexpected surprises. (google: Soekershof things to do in Robertson). But alone it's difficult. An initiative of the Boland Districts Council to promote 'other things to do' stranded because of non-co-operation ....

If there is anyone out there who can provide us with sound advice we'll be very gratefull!

Fireside Chat

A glimpse into the mind of the world - realtime search

KMAadmin — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:38:26 -0600

With the increase in users of microblogging sites such as Twitter.com, a profusion of services have emerged to support analysis and search of this live 'stream' of data. This Tweetgrid example provides an view of how seaching on particular hashtags (designated with a '#') can yield useful results and interesting connections. Importantly, it provides insight into how people in distant places are talking about your field of interest, what metaphors they are using, who they are recommending etc.. Obviously there is a lot of junk and so, as always, you need to exercise discernment. You can update the #hashtags on the tweetgrid and save your own personal glimpse into the mind of the collective. And if you are on twitter, please follow our updates on @KMAfrica by typing FOLLOW KMAFRICA and don't forget to update your Activity Stream with your twitter account details. Further information about #hashtags at Hashtags.org. If you want your message hashtagged, just add the hastags inside the message eg. if you want to twitter on the KMAfrica stream, include #KMAfrica to your message.

Useful #hashtags for search

#changemgt (change management)
#KM (knowledge management)
#KMAfrica
#quotes
#innovation
#science
#socialmedia
#UNDP
#swineflu (swineflu data, news & infections)
#haiku (poetry)
you can also try city names like #joburg #nairobi etc

Fireside Chat

African Peer Review Mechanism

DriesVelt — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 01:53:11 -0600

The Inaugural Summit of the AU of July 2003, in Durban, South Africa, endorsed the NEPAD progress report and initial action plan and encouraged member states to adopt the NEPAD Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic, and Corporate Governance, and accede to the APRM. After years of difficulties and African pessimism, some leaders thought that it was time to act rather than wait for others to come and solve their problems. They realised that there was a need to create an atmosphere conducive to development and to create conditions that would encourage the private sector to invest in African economies.

The first step in the APRM process of self-assessment, agreed to by the Heads of States and Government, was to assist member countries to determine the strengths and weaknesses inherent in some states that would result in a plan of action for each country and support from peers and institutions to assist in overcoming the different challenges facing these states. In contrast with past assessments carried out on African countries, the APRM is voluntary. Countries are not obliged to accede.

The MoU details the process and outlines the obligations that need to be fulfilled. For the peer review a national commission is created, in which the media, parliament, including opposition Members of Parliament, NGOs, human rights groups, the youth, gender groups, and business participate. This commission carries out a self-assessment, evaluates the weaknesses and strengths of the country, and formulates a plan of action. The commission’s report is presented to the APRM Panel of Eminent Persons, appointed to oversee the process and ensure its credibility by acting independently. The panel reviews the report in consultation with experts appointed to verify the information in the report. A mission (comprising at least 10 persons specialising in the different areas of APRM) meets with the different stakeholders to scrutinise the report and to find out if there is consensus on its contents, and if there is the necessary willingness to participate in the APRM. The report of the experts is then presented to the relevant government, which decides on steps to be taken to implement the recommendations. From this stage, the report is presented to the Forum of Participating Countries of the APRM who scrutinises the report with the government concerned and determines the needs of the country, including technical support. If there is resistance from the government to take measures to rectify identified problems, the forum exerts peer pressure, by peaceful dialogue, to persuade the government to take up the issues raised and move forward. The spirit of the whole process is a peaceful and non-violent resolution to take up the challenge of NEPAD.

A review takes between six and nine months and depends on the availability of data and the resources of the particular country to conduct the process of data collection, to be reviewed and assessed by independent experts of the African Development Bank, Economic Commission for Africa, Association of Central Banks and civil society. All these efforts will be merged to get the most current and accurate data. The important aspect of the process is its participatory nature. The citizens are part of it and the country's report will be made public after it has been presented to the forum for citizens to check the process and the progress of implementation. Political maturity of the civil society will help make the process a success. Rwanda has been among the first African countries to pioneer the implementation of the APRM. Apart from revealing shortcomings such as lack of adequate capacity in the APRM/ NEPAD secretariat, inadequate fluency in the coordination structures, constraints of time and resources, the standards of objectivity as the ultimate test of the credibility of the whole APRM process were challenged by the Republic of Rwanda. It was suggested that it is in the interest of everyone that the process meets stringent standards of objectivity. It was suggested that it is possible for a country to carry out an objective self-assessment, and in the case of Rwanda every effort was made to make the process as objective as possible. It is also for this reason that an external review is a key component of the APRM and a counter weight or verification mechanism. Rwanda suggested that some additional measures should be put in place to make the exercise more objective. Given the recent history of Rwanda, it seemed as if some external reviewers did not have adequate knowledge of the country and based their views on preconceived ideas and inaccurate information about the country found in different media. There is a need to base reviews on clear objective criteria or score matrix. This would certainly make the exercise more predictable, empirical and scientific. It was also suggested that a minimum requirement for objectivity should be that the final report has to be subjected to a process of moderation before it is tabled before the Heads of State. In addition to the challenges outlined above, there were other problems e.g. language impediments, especially in the rural areas where the questionnaire had to be translated in order to obtain the views of the population. (Republic of Rwanda 2006).

In November 2006, Sudanese billionaire Mo Ibrahim launched the Ibrahim Index for African Governance, a new ranking of sub-Saharan African nations developed in conjunction with the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The rule of law and security will weigh most in the index, ahead of human development, economic development, democracy, transparency and empowerment of civil society. Professor Robert Rotberg, director of the programme on intrastate conflict and conflict resolution at the Kennedy School, under whose direction the index was developed, argues that every indicator is made possible by human and state security. The index will be used to measure and benchmark good governance in Africa on a country-by-country basis. Ibrahim insisted that the index would not duplicate the APRM. He argues that the APRM is subjective, as its outcomes are measured by focus groups, public opinion and sentiment.

Rotberg adds that the APRM is not a 'strong instrument' and that in some places the entire process has been taken over by governments. Rotberg said the index would be measurable and not based on what governments say. He disagreed with the concerns of some analysts that the programme is focused on individuals, pointing out that 'leaders make a difference and big leaders make a big difference'. Rotberg said that the Ibrahim index would have a 'diagnostic effect', prompting states to ask themselves how they can improve where there are shortcomings. He said the index would compare and rank countries. Addressing concerns that the Ibrahim Index could be seen as patronising, Rotberg argued that the index is globally applicable and not drawn up according to Western standards but standards that can be used in Africa. He said the index is meant to be neutral and context free and without political bias. (Zvomuya 2006)

Evaluation of the APRM against the conceptual framework shows that valuable KM practices are embedded in the APRM, which can assist with the performance of post-colonial states in carrying out their continental commitments and any organisation involved in trans-national business. The first aspect is that several role players are afforded the opportunity to gather information and to find synergy in insights, continuously learning from one another. Secondly, African society interacts in various ways as equal partners to add value to the gathered information with minimum pressure from the global environment. Furthermore, the countries involved are given ample opportunity to reject interaction if it is found to be exploitative, demanding or controlling while countries accept a measure of pressure if that pressure is found to be supportive of not only the national interests but in the interest of continental initiatives. The report of the review also serves as a good example of a knowledge product with holistic perspectives suitable for decisions and actions.

However, the researcher has been alerted to the potential of exclusion of normative knowledge claims, especially knowledge situated in the periphery of state structures because of language and capacity limitations. Especially the exclusion of the traditional claims of the IKS because of lack of capacity to access oral data is clearly a challenge. This specific factor distracts value from the APRM report and probably omits important knowledge that could have alerted everybody concerned of potential sources of conflict, especially in remote areas beyond effective state control. Whether alternative instruments such as the Ibrahim Index and several others used by research institutions will overcome these limitations, to enjoy the same legitimacy and acceptability as an APRM, which was created by Africans for Africa, is still subject to evaluation.

Whatever instrument is used to get an objective and holistic view of Africa and its challenges, the control of Africans over the gathering, processing, dissemination, and use of the knowledge is imperative. Moreover, it will have to include measuring of progress about the redressing of imbalances within African society, the quest for emancipation from domination of and convergence with the developed world and more weight on human security than state security, measuring not only the performance of political leaders but also the leadership of traditional and civil society.

This work is (c)opyright to Dr Dries Velthuizen African Wisdom site and is used with permission.

Fireside Chat

KMAfrica.com - African Renaissance and desired outcomes for Africa

DriesVelt — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:40:00 -0600

The African Renaissance is about developing Africans and Africa. It is a call for the rebirth renewal, reinvention and repositioning of Africans and Africa in a globalizing world. Furthermore, it is a call to Africans to relearn and rediscover who they are and where they are in a global scheme of things. It is a vision bigger than the African Union, NEPAD and many other initiatives by individuals, communities, governments and multilateral organisations. It is not an effort to emulate 'world class' standards set by others but to set world standards to be followed by others. The African Renaissance is seen as the rebirth of the continent after centuries of suppression, correcting negative images. Rebirth must be through rediscovery of Africa's past, reversing the downfall into chaos. It is about planning for the future based on a new knowledge framework accommodating the ideas and philosophies that created the great empires of Ghana, Monomotapa, Songhai and Mali. (Gutto 2005).

Formal Objectives

The OAU Charter, accepted in Addis Ababa on 25 May 1963, stipulates that the Organization have the following purposes:

To promote the unity and solidarity of the African States;
To coordinate and intensify their cooperation and efforts to achieve a better life for the peoples of Africa;
To defend their sovereignty, their territorial integrity and independence;
To eradicate all forms of colonialism from Africa; and
To promote international cooperation, with regard to the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article XIX of the Charter established the Commission of Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration for member states to settle all disputes among themselves by peaceful means

The AU superseded the OAU when the Constitutive Act of the African Union of 11 July 2000, was accepted in Lomé, Togo. According to the 'Act' the objectives of the AU is to:

achieve greater unity and solidarity between the African counties and the peoples of Africa;
defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its Member States;
accelerate the political and socio-economic integration of the continent;
promote and defend African common positions on issues of interest to the continent and its peoples;
encourage international cooperation, taking due account of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
promote peace, security, and stability on the continent;
promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance;
promote and protect human and peoples' rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other relevant human rights instruments;
establish the necessary conditions which enable the continent to play its rightful role in the global economy and in international negotiations;
promote sustainable development at the economic, social and cultural levels as well as the integration of African economies;
promote cooperation in all fields of human activity to raise the living standards of African peoples;
coordinate and harmonize policies between existing and future Regional Economic Communities for the gradual attainment of the objectives of the Union;
advance the development of the continent by promoting research in all fields, in particular in science and technology;
work with relevant international partners in the eradication of preventable diseases and the promotion of good health on the continent

One of the core objectives of the African Union (AU) is the promotion of peace, security, and stability on the Continent, as spelt out in Article 3 (f) of the AU Constitutive Act. To strengthen the AU’s capacity in the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts, Member States adopted, in July 2002, in Durban, South Africa, the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council (PSC), which entered into force in December 2003. The Protocol, in article 2 (1), defines the PSC as 'a collective security and early-warning arrangement to facilitate timely and efficient response to conflict and crisis situations in Africa'.

This work is (c)opyright to Dr Dries Velthuizen African Wisdom site and is used with permission.

Fireside Chat

Africa - fertile ground for KM innovations

storytelling — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:07:55 -0600

The uptake of mobile phones on the African continent continues with growth rates in excess of 100% over the past twelve months (Source MTN 'Yello corporate publication, 2008). This is happening while technologies that link people across space and time are becoming ubiquitous and mobile telephony is the preferred means of telecommunication. The result is a narrowing of the technological gap between the developed and developing world. Rates of ownership, even among the poorest, is surprisingly high and while estimates vary, there were already more than 100 million connected handsets in Africa in 2005.

All that is needed are bright, entrepreneurial minds to seize the space, to make the connection in what is potentially one of the biggest knowledge markets in the world. What is needed is to marry technology with great ideas. These ideas can come from looking at actual situations in which knowledge and technology have been applied to create successful, impactful change, work opportunities and sustainable systems. Could you use these ideas to stimulate new possibilities for yourself and your community?

Farmers are using mobile phones to ensure the best prices for their crops and use the information to decide which market to sell at, small-scale entrepreneurs are contacting potential clients, and grandparents are talking to their children and grandchildren hundreds of kilometres away. IDRC (2003a) and NGO Mobile
There are case studies from around the world that demonstrate the potential gains of ICT use for biodiversity and conservation at a practical, hands-on level in basic data collection, information, education and research; community-led conservation initiatives; conservation project management; tracking and monitoring. (Banks & Burge, 2004). In addition, National parks communicate details about dangerous animals, provide an early warning system to mitigate against human-wildlife conflict.
Mobile technology is being used in rural phone networks for telemedicine, small business development, market trading and farming, humanitarian aid and community services NGO Mobile
An Insurance company in the UK has stolen a lead over its competitors by offering same day claim evaluation and payment by using mobile wireless technology.
Some patients in Africa on antiretrovirals now receive text message (SMS) reminders to take their medicine, so they no longer waste time and money traveling to their nearest clinic to ensure compliance. NGO Mobile
eThekwini municipality in South Africa have developed a model to stimulate community participation by using library infrastructure and Opensource social networking software to record indigenous knowledge. Because indigenous knowledge is mostly stored in people’s minds and passed on through generations by word of mouth rather than in written form, it is vulnerable to rapid change (Sithole, 2006). Development processes like rural/urban migration and changes to population structure as a result of famine, epidemics, displacement or war may all contribute to loss of indigenous knowledge. Even in remote areas the powers that push global or just non-local content such as television and radio advertising are much stronger than those pushing local content (Nyumba, 2006). The result is a form of 'cultural imperialism' where the monolithic culture threatens to wipe out Indigenous knowledge unless it is properly documented and disseminated (World Bank, 1998)
Unemployed youths in Nairobi’s shanty towns receive texts alerting them to job opportunities in the city NGO Mobile
Fauna & Flora International have created a web-based portal which provides a wide variety of conservation news stories, discussion boards, field diaries, competitions, downloadable resources and image galleries using a shared database which also feeds directly into a micro-site on Vodafone’s live! platform. Users can access a wide range of these services, in addition to downloadable animal-sound ring tones, wildlife images and conservation-themed games. This is the first time that conservation based materials have been made available to mobile subscribers, giving them the opportunity to engage in conservation in a completely new way. (Banks & Burge, 2004)
The World Health Organisation in Kenya have implemented a shared Wiki which allows field workers to share area level knowledge with each other at electronic speed. Established to share learning and experiences, both positive and negative, a major benefit of the system is said to be a greater spirit of community among field workers who have been enabled and empowered to make the connections as they see fit on the ground. (KMAfrica2007, Nairobi)
The Lesotho Ministry of Health and Social Welfare have implemented a shared wiki to focus on organisational culture, values, branding and identity - the approach allows members of this diverse organisation to communicate about key issues. MOHSW website
Wet-Africa.org - a specialist water knowledge site that runs on the KMAfrica.com SIG platform includes a system that monitors and allows system members to report pollution incidents in waters and wetlands via twitter and SMS. wet-africa.org website

Further information on some of the projects mentioned here can be found on:

Technology for conservation and development T4CD website
United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre website
NGO Mobile (ideas for using ICT in community animation) NGO Mobile website
Kiwanja.net is an organisation providing social messaging software to NGOs Kiwanja.net website

ICT as an enabler

It is important to understand that mobile phones and other ICTs are tools, and not a solution to problems. However, ICTs have an important role to play as a part of wider strategies and programmes. Areas in which ICTS have been successfully employed by a variety of organisations include disaster relief, poverty alleviation, healthcare, conservation, development, and job creation – all representing fertile ground for KM innovation and entrepreneurship.

research: Steve Banhegyi
steve@storytelling.co.za

Fireside Chat

Ideas for powerful networking

storytelling — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:33:26 -0600

The ability to network powerfully is an important skill and a key resource in your personal knowledge management strategy. In this discussion we'll look at ways of interacting with your network plus ideas for powerful networking. You could see your network as a series of circles that contain your immediate family, your friends, your professional networks, and the general public. While some of these overlap, others do not are and quite distinct. In addition to the face-to-face networks you engage in on a day-to-day basis, the vast majority of these networks are becoming available on-line and so these ideas are designed to provide know-how designed to help you get the best out of all of your networks:

Create a clear vision of success for yourself including an idea of what you want. Do not proceed until you have achieved this.
Cultivate a clear idea of the network, its' identity, why you want to be part of it and what you want from it.
Cultivate a clear idea of how you wish to be seen by the network and ensure that your behaviour is always consistent with the identity you desire to portray.
Are your personal value systems compromised in any way as a result of engaging with this network? If so, you should either a) seriously re-consider being part of the network and rather not engage it or b) re-evaluate your personal values.
Be deliberate about how you project your profile to the world and ensure it is consistent across all networks. You can check your KMAfrica.com profile on http://isivivane.com/kmafrica/?q=user
Have a carefully constructed 'Elevator Pitch' ready for delivery - when you make a connection, you'll need to describe who you are, what it is you do and why it is important in the form of a short story - practicing and having this story ready for delivery makes it more likely to be memorable and impactful.
You are going to need a well designed, aesthetically pleasing business card that includes your email address and other contact details. The way this card looks and feels tells volumes about you so make certain you give it the care and attention that it deserves.
In business and relationships, it is not always what you know or even how brilliant you are that makes the difference but rather who you know ... actively cultivate friendships and connections with people who will further your own vision of success.
Find out where the people you want to network with hang out … and then join them.
Practice a winning smile in the mirror and use it more often than you frown - even if no-one is watching.
Commit to provide prompt, intelligent and courteous feedback.
Honour commitments and deadlines - try not to save things to do for the last minute.
Listen actively and carefully but when afforded the opportunity to speak, contain yourself to asking well thought out knowledge creating questions.
Make careful notes of your meetings, activities and contacts and re-read these notes at least once a week.
Make a point of remembering the names of the people you make contact with
Commit to learning how technology and a well formed PKM strategy can help widen your circle of contacts.
Commit to learning more about personal branding and developing a unique, compelling and authentic style though which you project yourself.
Develop a personal networking code for yourself and ensure that you stick to it...
It is important that you take an interest in your networks and that you participate in them intelligently and regularly.

Do you have any more suggestions? Please comment below!

Fireside Chat

Permaculture as a metaphor for organisational change & sustainability

storytelling — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:46:01 -0600

Permaculture is a particularly useful metaphor in change management and KM and many organisations are using permaculture principles to teach design and sustainability. Permaculture concerns itself with the use of ecology as the basis for designing integrated systems of food production, housing, appropriate technology, and community development.

"Companies are actually living organisms, not machines. We keep bringing in mechanics, when what we need are gardeners." Peter Senge

Permaculture is built upon an ethic of caring for the earth and interacting with the environment in mutually beneficial ways. It seeks to design sustainable human habitats by observing and following the patterns of nature. Permaculture encourages holistic thinking which means that we consider all aspects of a system (irrespective of how seemingly insignificant they are) and how they interrelate with each other. In addition, permaculture encourages use to think about the consequences of any intervention. In very broad summary, Permaculture teaches an appreciation for design that:

uses available materials and resources to ensure maximum productivity and the minimum amount of energy expenditure
teaches respect for nature and all living things
recognises the environment as a complex set of living relationships
emulate natural processes thus promoting sustainability
encourages diversity in plant and animal species
teaches planning by considering the consequences of actions by projecting into the future

Fireside Chat

The need for new KM Models

DriesVelt — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:32:19 -0600

According to Dunning (1997, 370) the geographical imbalance between the current 'technology revolution' and the 'population revolution' is a potential time bomb. The wealthiest 12% of the world population controls 85 % of the world's stock of created assets, while the rest owns or controls only 15 % of these assets. An increase of approxamately 50 % of the world population over the next five years will probably occur in the less wealthy part of the world. This imbalance can be addressed by Chinese and Indian economic development and removing the threat of ideological warfare (referring to the war between Islam and the West).

According to Parente (2001) the imbalances in the knowledge economy can be seen in the context of 'new growth models' which can be exogenous or endogenous. The 'exogenous growth model', also known as the 'neo-classical model' is a term that refers to a model of economic growth within the framework of neoclassical economics. A key proposition of neoclassical growth models is that the income levels of poor countries will converge towards the income levels of rich countries. However, since the 1950s, the opposite result has been observed. The developed world appears to have grown at a faster rate than the developing world, the opposite of what is expected according to a prediction of convergence. However, formerly poor countries such as Japan appear to have converged with rich countries, and in the case of Japan actually exceeded the productivity of other countries. However, the model does not take into account that the success of Japan was entrepreneurship and the strength of institutions, which served as catalysts for economic growth. It also does not explain how or why technological progress occurs.
Parente says that these limitations have led to the development of an 'endogenous growth theory', which endogenizes technological progress and knowledge accumulation. Endogenous growth theories usually rely on cycles to desribe an unstable pattern of events in search of equilibruim. Importance is given to the creation of new technologies and human capital. Organisations and individuals have an incentive to be innovative in order to gain an advantage over their competitors, thus improving productivity. The 'endogenous growth theory' has proven no more successful than the exogenous growth theory in explaining the income divergence between the developing and developed worlds. The main failings of these theories is their inability to explain non-convergence, or why some countries are still much richer than others.

Nabudere (2006d) asserts that the creation of ‘new growth models’ that replicate the old models in order to rationalise state intervention and investment cannot be accepted. The idea behind the old growth model that assumed that production functions (land, capital and labour) operated independently in relation to economic growth was wrong. The use of standard economics and ‘development theory’ intended to inform and explain how economic growth was achieved through the three ‘production factors’. Other variables such as social capital and tacit knowledge were ignored. It did not take into account the existence of different forms of ‘capital’ of which finance capital and indigenous knowledge were exploited without compensation. Furthermore, the old economic models were built on a mono-disciplinary approach that placed ‘standard economics’ above other human and social sciences, which demonstrated how science and tacit knowledge co-existed but were ignored or exploited. The recognition of other forms of knowledge is a prerequisite to the emergence of a model that places a premium not only on the stock of knowledge available to an enterprise, but even more on the capacity to learn new ideas.

Nabudere suggests a need for the revamp of educational policy and investment in education towards a more grass rooted ‘learning economy’ that responds to local needs and a culturally relevant ‘knowledge economy,’ to accommodate the pressure originating from the global economy, rooted in the solutions embedded in tacit knowledge and social capital. A new investment policy in education that recognises that knowledge is necessary for production is crucial in policy formulation.

Nabudere concludes that to reconstruct states that reflect the aspirations of Africans, people must consider the developments in the global political economy and link themselves to the positive forces within the global system in order to strengthen their local activities. Learning is no longer concentrated at a single location and scientifically and technologically related learning takes place outside the universities. Nowadays business, communities and several non-academic settings, where groups of people from different disciplines and institutions come together are centres of learning where boundaries that used to exist between academic and non-academic learning is becoming blurred as the ‘excluded middle’ is increasingly included. The 'learning economy' is a crucial aspect of 'knowledge-based economy', with the emphasis on 'learning to learn' in different environments, with a connection between intellectual capital and social capital, a change in organisation towards functional flexibility and training of students on how to learn. Policies must work towards a new convergence, which recognises that knowledge is necessary for production, and that other communities seek interlocking networks of economic and social relationships on globally as Africa moves into a 'learning economy'.

A recent study by the Department of Industrial Psychology, University of Stellenbosch (Du Toit, Engelbrecht and Pooven 2006) revealed that traditional African values, although in congruence with many universal ethical values, place more emphasis upon collectivism, collaboration, caring, dignity and respect. It is argued that these values should underlie a value-based leadership style to enhance team performance in modern organisations through better integration and understanding of a multi-cultural workforce and the management of diversity with a focus on teams. As traditional European and American management concepts do not always provide for the needs of a diverse society in a process of economic and social development, the approach is based on local values, more specifically the value system of Ubuntu. Practicing the social values of Ubuntu in organisations would not only preserve these values in the modern business world, but would also lead to team effectiveness. A leader who has a values-based style of leadership, and who is aware of existing value systems within the team can achieve role modelling. Mbigi and Maree (2005, 117) assert that the creative force of history is not ideology, religion or politics but the way in which people organise work and create value.

The factory system that brought people out of cottage industry and feudal conditions was mass production that brought about the current, mass-consumption civilisation and the mastering of technology. The fame of the USA and the ascent of Japan was the result of mastering mass production and technology. The authors suggest that Africa mastered excellent production techniques and accomplished mass customisation before any other country in the world. Furthermore, African clairvoyants and intellectuals must shift their attention from the politics of resistance to the politics of production. The fascination with European literature must change to fascination with their African roots, which lie in the traditional knowledge practices of Africa. It is only then that Africa will have the confidence to create economic growth. If companies are to be competitive in global markets, they have to learn to harness the collective will, intelligence and energy of their people by creating enterprising communities through the canonising of Ubuntu. They have to select the best business practices and then create team practices that are in harmony with the values of Ubuntu, which means encouraging people to express themselves through the group.

According to the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) some societies are marked by isolation, scientific marginalisation, extremely unstable material conditions, political repression, a devastating brain drain and lack of academic freedom. The challenge is to nurture, develop and sustain a productive, highly motivated community of social science researchers, transcending disciplinary, gender and generational barriers. A further challenge is the strengthening of the institutional basis of knowledge production by developing programmes of collaboration with other centres of social research in Africa whether they are national or (sub-) regional, university-based or independent. Moreover, in order to produce knowledge, numerous scientific activities and tools, whose value and impact are universally recognised, must be developed. These include:

The publishing of high-quality documents, books, reference works, monographs, working papers, journals and periodicals.
Development of training and publications programmes.
Regional and international research programmes.
Skilled individuals brought together in a diverse and productive intellectual community.
Scientific data banks put at the disposal of the research community.
Doctoral theses sponsored and brought to completion.
Strengthen the production of knowledge capacity about Africa by Africans.

(CODESRIA, 2006).

This work is (c)opyright to Dr Dries Velthuizen African Wisdom site and is used with permission.

Fireside Chat

Framing HIV as an information problem

storytelling — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:03:42 -0600

Peter Drucker defines knowledge as "Information that changes something or somebody-either by becoming grounds for actions or by making an individual (or an institution) capable of different or more effective action." This definition highlights both individual and corporate aspects of knowledge. KM models focus on what kinds of information move through a system, how the information moves and the relationship of information to processes of change within that system. A number of biomedical models have suggested that the HIV virus can change other information at the level of the DNA of a CD4 cell. In this way, it is suggested, the Virus uses corrupted immune system cells to create replicas of itself thus compromising the ability of the immune system to defend against opportunistic infections. Because of this, HIV itself can be framed as knowledge in it has the ability to change other information. The primary consequences and sequella of HIV infection are experienced at many levels ranging from the HIV+ individual through the family, the community, the culture, the society, the labour market, the economy etc.

From an information system perspective, the human body is a complex organisation of information and therefore qualifies as a complex information system. The human body satisfies the definition in that it contains information at the level of each individual cell and in the immune, nervous and endocrine systems and the communication transactions between these systems – mediated by chemical messengers called polypeptides.

An information system can be data, information, exformation (information rejected as not being necessary for information processing), knowledge held in stories, skills, relationships, values, beliefs, behaviours (which can be seen as a form of information exchange), symbols, metaphors, narratives, social and economic transactions, as well as policies, procedures and protocols. All these phenomena, and much more besides, constitute a complex, living dynamic information system. The system itself is in a state of continuous change as a result of the feedback mechanisms between its mutually influencing parts.

Fireside Chat

Memetics, Memeplexes, Culture and HIV

storytelling — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:36:02 -0600

Virology has provided our culture with many useful insights and the term 'viral' and the viral metaphor spring up in the form of computer viruses, viral marketing, memetics and memeplexes. Human beings are by nature metaphorical beings and understand complex concepts through metaphor and analogy. In other words, we understand something in terms of something else.

However, trying to understand a virus in terms of a virus throws the thinker into ever more greatly convoluted loops of logic. To think about HIV, what we need is a good metaphor for HIV - what is it 'like'? What organisms or systems do we know of that do the things HIV does? Could the emergent properties of billions of human beings transacting with each other be doing to our planet what HIV does to our bodies?

A particularly useful area for those working with HIV is the field of memetics and memplexes. The term meme (pronounced like dream) was coined by Biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book "The Selfish Gene" As examples of memes, he suggested “tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches”.

Memes are habits, skills, songs, stories, or any other kind of information that is copied from person to person. Memes, like genes, are replicators. That is, they are information that is copied with variation and selection. Because only some of the variants survive, memes (and hence human cultures) evolve. Memes are copied by imitation, teaching and other methods, and they compete for space in our memories and for the chance to be copied again and agin. Large groups of memes that are copied and passed on together are called co-adapted meme complexes, or memeplexes.

The word “meme” is now found in the Oxford English Dictionary where it is defined “meme (mi:m), n. Biol. (shortened from mimeme ... that which is imitated, after GENE n.) “An element of a culture that may be considered to be passed on by non-genetic means, esp. imitation”.

According to memetics, our minds and cultures are designed by natural selection acting on memes, just as organisms are designed by natural selection acting on genes. A central question for memetics is therefore ‘why has this meme survived?’. Some succeed because they are genuinely useful to us, while others use a variety of tricks to get themselves copied. From the point of view of the “selfish memes” all that matters is replication, regardless of the effect on either us or our genes.

Some memes are almost entirely exploitative, or viral, in nature (chain letters and e-mail viruses). These consist of a “copy-me” instruction backed up with threats and promises. Religions have a similar structure and this is why Dawkins refers to them as "viruses of the mind" Many religions threaten hell and damnation, promise heaven or salvation, and insist that their followers pass on their beliefs to others. This ensures the survival of the memeplex. Other viral memes include alternative therapies, new age fads and cults, children’s games, urban legends and popular songs, all of which can spread like infections.

At the other end of the spectrum memes survive because of their value to us. The most valuable of memeplexes include all of the arts and sports, transport and communications systems, political and monetary systems, literature and science. Memetics has been used to provide new explanations of human evolution, including theories of altruism, the origins of language and consciousness, and the evolution of the human brain. The Internet can be seen as a vast realm of memes, growing rapidly by the process of memetic evolution and not under human control. The field of memetics is new and controversial, with many critics, and difficulties to be resolved.

Steve Banhegyi

Fireside Chat

A KM approach to guiding Change Management

storytelling — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:29:26 -0600

When engaged in Change Management project, we often use a KM framework to guide and share elements of the system's functionality with client. This simultaneously engages Systems Theory, Logical Framework Analysis (LFA), Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Dialogic approaches in project work. The novelty of this approach is that is both analytical and analogical simultaneously and creates a multidisciplinary framework for engaging complex information. It has proved particularly helpful in working with African government and NGOs. The process is generally completed within 3 days as an organisational ritual and outputs form inputs to the change process. The enquiry framework asks the following key questions when we assess organisational culture and the nature of a system:

What are the roles and the relationships that make up the complex social system under investigation?
What official criteria are used to measure the success of these roles? What unofficial criteria are used to measure the success of these roles?
How does information flow between these roles and in these relationships?
What skills sets are represented in each role? What are the sources of these skills? Which skills and skills sets are capable of dealing with what challenges?
What values and beliefs inform the behaviours of each of the roles in the system?
What symbols, metaphors and stories inform the different roles with regards to their experience of the challenge? What is the source of these symbols, metaphors and stories? How are they currently succeeding in meeting the challenge?
What messages and stories that relate to this challenge are currently being produced and by whom?
What are the kinds of data that are already being collected with regards to the system? Who is collecting this data? With what intent? How is this data then represented? Who has access to it? In what form?
What feedback mechanisms are functioning in this system? What is the information that is being relayed through these feedback loops? What are these feedback loops capable of changing?
What does each role have the power to change? What is each role unable to change?
What are the natural processes of social and behavioural change in the system? Can these natural processes of change be harnessed in any way?
What are the unofficial and spontaneous forms of governance that arise in this system?

The approach evaluates every value, belief and behaviour is by asking the following questions:

Who benefits from this value / belief / behaviour?
What feedback mechanisms sustain this value/belief/behaviour?
What alternative values, beliefs and behaviours can be imagined? Are these alternatives actualised or experimented with?
How do these values/beliefs/behaviours determine changes in the whole system?

Overview provided by Steve Banhegyi & Associates trans4mation blog

Fireside Chat

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) - social & political domination through text & talk

storytelling — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:16:40 -0600

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is an interdisciplinary approach to the study of discourse, which views "language as a form of social practice" (Fairclough 1989: 20) and focuses on the ways social and political domination is reproduced by text and talk. CDA developed within several disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, such as 'critical linguistics'.

CDA is founded on the idea that there is unequal access to institutionally controlled linguistic and social resources. The patterns of access to discourse and communicative events is one essential element for CDA. Although CDA is sometimes mistaken to represent a 'method' of discourse analysis, it is generally agreed that any explicit method in discourse studies, the humanities and social sciences may be used in CDA research, as long as it is able to adequately and relevantly produce insights into the way discourse reproduces (or resists) social and political inequality, power abuse or domination. That is, CDA does not limit its analysis to specific structures of text or talk, but systematically relates these to structures of sociopolitical context.

Fireside Chat

Dialogic - endless redescriptions of the world

storytelling — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:52:56 -0600

The terms dialogic and dialogism often refer to the concept used by Mikhail Bakhtin in his work The Dialogic Imagination. The dialogic work carries on a continual dialogue with other works of literature and other authors. It does not merely answer, correct, silence, or extend a previous work, but informs and is continually informed by the previous work. Dialogic literature is in communication with multiple works. This is not merely a matter of influence, for the dialogue extends in both directions, and the previous work of literature is as altered by the dialogue as the present one is.
Bakhtin argues that all language (and all thought) appears dialogic. This means that: everything anybody ever says always exists in response to things that have been said before and in anticipation of things that will be said in response. We never, in other words, speak in a vacuum. As a result, all language (and the ideas which language contains and communicates) is dynamic, relational and engaged in a process of endless redescriptions of the world.

"Good morning, how are you? Very well thank you, and you? Fine thank you!" is a typical example of a dialogic pattern. What often -repeated, but meaningless dialogic patterns do you use in your thinking and conversation?

Fireside Chat

New Knowledge-based business models for Africa

storytelling — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:11:44 -0600

e-Knowledge markets are becoming recognised as “disruptive and discontinuous technology innovation” (Kaieteur Institute for KM 2005) which are changing the way which people manage their social networks, education, wealth and intellectual property assets. The possibility here is the exploitation of intellectual capital in real-time by a larger number of people. Some of the categories of these business models which have emerged include:

b2b (business-to-business) knowledge exchanges
community / social capital knowledge networks
e-education or e-learning exchanges
expert knowledge exchanges/ question and answer exchanges
intellectual capital/free-lance exchanges (human capital, talent, work, job, project, free agent or professional services exchanges )
intellectual property exchanges
knowledge auctions
knowledge banks (know-how banks)
knowledge grids
knowledge market & exchange - enabling technologies
knowledge stores or malls
knowledge vortexes - vertical market or industry specific knowledge markets
prediction/ futurology / idea markets
stock market or investment knowledge exchanges

The software necessary to drive such systems has become commonplace and can be implemented at very reasonable cost for even the smallest NGO or community organisation In addition, even entry level telephones now have 3G and web browsing capabilities allowing even greater access to electronic resources

African Knowledge-Based Businesses

There are literally limitless opportunities for the creation of Knowledge-based business in Africa. The following suggestions represent new categories which could be opened to the rest of the world as authentically African. Examples of Knowledge-Based business in additional to traditional educational institutions could include:

Knowledge Tourism – Strategically positioning knowledge offerings linked to local areas that invite exploration and experiencing in a variety of areas such as:
- Archaeology / Anthropology / History / Cultural experiences (Cultural villages, Dig sites, Stay overs with families etc.)
- Wildlife and Natural Resource Management Courses
- African Storytelling / oral traditions - Soekershof Mazes and botanical gardens Soekershof website
- Permaculture, Urban and Rural Agriculture and food production
- Student exchange programmes at School and University Level
- Participation in ancient rituals and rites - and example of this in South Africa are the Soekershof Mazes and botanical gardens Soekershof website
- Spiritual tourism to places of spiritual / geological and cultural significance
- Earthbuilding, traditional architecture and building methods
Carbon Offset agreements – to stimulate the growing of trees that provide food, work, shelter and regular income for local communities in exchange for Carbon Offset.
Waterway reclamation as part of carbon offset agreement to stimulate the cleaning of polluted waterways providing food, work, shelter and regular income for local communities in exchange for Carbon Offset see example of this at the Wet-Africa.org website
Phytochemistry – there is increasing interest in the molecules contained in some of Africa's indigenous plants by international Pharma companies. It is important that projects be established to:
- Identify and classify traditional uses of these plant and animal resources in such a way that the interests of local communities are protected and that they are suitably compensated should traditions of use lead to the isolation of useful molecules and practices.
- Grow and protect such natural resources and record the oral traditions connected to them.
- Ensure sustainable harvesting and management of such plants, in order to preserve the natural balance.

Indigenous Knowledge is part and parcel of the culture and history of any local community. Development agencies “need to learn from local communities to enrich the development process” (World Bank, 1998). Indigenous knowledge also affects the well-being of the majority of people in developing countries (Ngulube, 2002). Some 80% of the world’s population depend on indigenous knowledge to meet their medicinal needs and at least 50% rely on indigenous knowledge for food supply (Nyumba, 2006). Indigenous knowledge is indeed the cornerstone for building an own identity and ensuring coherence of social structures within communities.

Steve Banhegyi
steve@storytelling.co.za

Fireside Chat

Anti-knowledge – the unknown as reservoir of the possible

storytelling — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:51:19 -0600

Anti-knowledge refers to the collective set of questions that form an antithetical structure to a subset or the sum of knowledge. Put more simply, Antiknowledge is whatever we don't know. Of course, we can't know what we don't know and so the only way to find out is to ask a question. Thankfully, the questions we can ask are the Who, What, Where, Why, How and When questions which operate on Anti-knowledge converting the questions into knowledge by structuring them. There are two fundamental types of questions:

Learning questions - questions about knowledge that exists
Knowledge Discovery Questions - questions that form knowledge when structured

Within the intellectual universe, there is a Yin-Yang relationship between the sum of knowledge and the sum of questions. In the Yin-Yang symbol pictured here, the black area represents Yin - the feminine - or the sum of questions (or Anti-Knowledge). The white area represents Yang - the masculine - or the sum of knowledge or the known. It is important to recognise that the Yin/Yang or Anti-knowledge/Knowledge are in continuous dynamic relationship with each other and knowledge is continuously being created (and forgotten) in the boundary between the two. The model provides us with the insight that it is possible to manage the realm of the unknown in much the same way that one manages the known.

Terms like genius, creativity, innovation, problem solving, and knowledge creation have been historically studied and represented as loosely related topics. When appropriately understood, all of these terms can be encapsulated into the following cycle of knowledge and anti-knowledge as follows:

Definition/Solution/Structure (Knowledge Context)
Question/Problem (What are the smartest questions can we ask?)
Logical Operation (connects/structures/defines)
Result: Advanced Definition/Solution/Structure
Return to Step 2

Anti-knowledge overview kindly provided by Bruce LaDuke - Hyperadvance Blog & Website

If you want to learn more, have a look at this short 51 slide overview on Anti-Knowledge

Fireside Chat

4 steps to exploring social media

KMAadmin — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:09:05 -0600

If you are new to social media and are still exploring the area, here are 4 steps to help you get the best out of it:

Step 1: Explore - search & browse for content that interests you. Find out where your friends, colleagues and peers spend their time on the web. Particularly look for notable commentators and figures in the area in which you are interested, subscribe to their personal blogs and follow the comments and conversations.
Step 2: Understand the space. The social media space has its own set of informal rules often termed 'netiquette' (the etiquette of the 'net). The fundamental idea is to treat others in the way that you would like to be treated - be polite, firm, honour your commitments and be consistent across all the networks that you choose to belong to. Also, commit to prompt feedback-there is nothing stranger in an electronic world than people who takes weeks to respond to an email. Also remind yourself anything you do on the 'net that can be directly traced back to you will speak volumes about 'who you are'; this image will either attract of repel potential contacts.
Step 3: Ask intelligent knowledge creation questions and give prompt feedback - you can do this by voting on content and by adding your own comments or even feeding back on other comments thus further stimulating a conversation. Also, while you can explore ideas, never attack (or 'flame' in internet language) people or groups.
Step 4: Contribute - start creating, editing and enhancing the KMAfrica.com knowledgebase. All our content is fed to a variety of knowledge-related sites and newsfeeds and so it creates awareness and interest. Use your personal blog and the SIGS to highlight your projects and interests and get feedback from other members. Find ways to tell your own story in creative ways using diverse media.

Fireside Chat

How big is Africa, really?

storytelling — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 03:55:31 -0600

While Africa remains the least developed continent, it’s quite startling to see a map showing how big it actually is. Africa is 30,3 million km² and so is larger than the combination of China (9,6 million km²), the US (9,4 million km²), Western Europe (4,9 million km²), India (3,2 million km²) and Argentina (2,8 million km²) plus the Scandinavian countries and the British Isles with room to spare.

And while we are all used to seeing maps of the world, Africa's size in relation to the World Map has been understated for many years and is actually longer and wider than the shape we are accustomed to. One reason for this is that these maps were first drawn in the age of the British Empire, when the emphasis was on accentuating the centre of Empire to the detriment of "the Provinces" or Colonies.

The map is NOT the territory – it is a special form of model that attempts to convey what Gregory Bateson called 'news of difference'.. A map might show, for example, the difference between land and the sea. It might show the differences between countries, and the roads and 'not roads'. In order to display these features, you must always remember that the scale will not be correct (the roads aren't actually the size they are on the maps and there is a lot of data removed from the map to make it comprehensible).

The Peters Map Controversy

“In the 1970's, Arno Peters, German map maker, historian and journalist, developed an equal area map projection in order to counter the commonly used "Eurocentric" Mercator map projection. He stated, "In our epoch, relatively young nations of the world have cast off the colonial dependencies and now fight for equal rights. It seems important to me that developed nations are no longer at the center of the world, but are plotted according to their true size." He points out that on the Mercator map Europe’s 3.8 million square miles are made to appear larger than South America’s 6.9 million square miles. Peters initially wrote a controversial world history text and found that "the quest for the causes of arrogance and xenophobia has led me repeatedly back to the global map as being primarily responsible for forming people’s impression of the world." It is important to note that the Mercator projection is rarely used today except for the purpose it was originally designed for - navigation. Of course, many Mercator maps can still be found in use by graphic designers, in older classroom materials, and as inexpensive wall maps.

Cartographers have criticized the Peters map in part due to its distortion of the shapes of continents - one cartographer went so far as to describe the effect as being "the resulting land masses are somewhat reminiscent of wet, ragged, long winter underwear hung out to dry on the Arctic Circle." While each continent is reflected accurately in terms of area proportion, the overall effect of the maps is not a realistic portrayal of the earth. Cartographers argue that numerous projections developed since the Mercator projection (such as the Robinson and the Goode) succeed in achieving a more realistic image without a Europe centered focus. In fact, equal area projections had existed since 1772, but the press, the United Nations, the World Council of Churches, and the National Council of Churches heralded the Peters map as a way for the "Third World" to break away from colonial constructs.

Thus, timing was everything; many nations of the world had just achieved independence from colonial powers within the previous decade. Peters, as an accomplished journalist, knew the art of generating publicity. There ensued an on-going debate over the use of this map between cartographers on the one hand, and people who believed the map would change people’s perceptions about the Third World on the other.“

Information obtained from the CIA world factbook and PetersMap.com

See a copy of Peters World Map

Compiled by Steve Banhegyi
steve@storytelling.co.za

Fireside Chat

Questions of interest to KM Practitioners

storytelling — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 05:01:23 -0600

The following are knowledge discovery / creation questions that you might like to apply to yourself.

What unusual and useful know-how do I have? What is this know-how generally called and what could I call it?
Which creative metaphors could I develop to contain this knowledge and what stories could I tell that demonstrate my competence in the domain?
How do I quantify the value of this know-how to myself, my family, my community, the earth and society at large?
What does this know-how help me to create and achieve?
Who else is (or might) be interested in this know-how?
From where have I acquired this know-how?
What is the potential value of this know-how? To whom is it valuable and in what way?
How do I organise myself so that I can remember and reliably re-enact this know-how?
How do I create and sustain a sustainable income for myself, my family and my community using know-how?
What stories do I tell that remind me of my dream?
From where do I draw my inspiration?
How and to whom do I pass on this know-how?
For what do I wish to be remembered and by whom?

Steve Banhegyi
steve@storytelling.co.za

Fireside Chat

The Game of Knowledge Management

KMAadmin — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 01:48:37 -0600

While there are a number of models available for practitioners of KM to help implement KM projects, few models have tried to deconstruct KM itself and how it works. Understanding a complex dynamic is often best done by adopting a metaphor; a good metaphor can go a long way and serve you well in understanding a complex system.

A reminder about metaphors

Metaphor is the use of one thing to represent something else because of some perceived common characteristic. For example: “the Boss has a razor tongue”. The metaphor allows for comparison of two things which are quite different in order to express an emotion, an idea, or a concept that cannot be described by literal language alone. In this comparison, the two ‘things’ compared exchange properties to create a whole new range of meaning. For example, in the phrase ‘he has a razor tongue’, words gain the sharpness, the danger, the precision of an instrument that can cause pain and even death – and all this from the conjunction of the two words. Metaphors lie to us. Tongues aren’t really razors. Therefore, well designed and delivered metaphors have the capacity to capture the imagination and are used to good effect in public speaking.

KM as a game?

A game is defined as “a socially constructed sequence of actions consisting of rituals, rules, roles, values and goals" We have extended the model to include and resources, language and Style (the unique way in which you are seen to play the game). Using this model, we can use it to understand and demystify any complex dyanamic in which human beings engage from parenting through business to psychiatry, war and even KM. The model described here has been used in a variety of environments ranging from KM through Change Management and even forecasting and simulation.

The model here uses the cardinal and ordinal points of the compass to highlight energies/archetypes that probably already exist in the system under examination. By identifying them, we turn up the volume on these key values, attitudes and behaviours. The way in which these key factors influence and inform each other creates the dynamic of the game or the living system.

Goals (East) – Every game has a goal, even if the goal is to simply continue playing the game in a sustainable manner or to win. While soccer, rugby and cricket matches come to an end with winners and losers, the game continues – season after season. Typical goals of business games might include sustainable profits, the creation of wealth and having rewarding interpersonal relationships. For organisations, goals are normally articulated in a Vision/Mission statements and in strategic plans. On a personal level, your narrative or 'story' articulates your goals as experienced through your identity. What are your personal goals? What are the goals of the games that you are playing? Do they contradict each other? Are the goals worth the effort? How have you reached clarity and agreement with your fellow players about what the goals and nature of the game are?
Language / Stories (South East) – each game has its own language which allows participants to talk about (and even create?) common experience. The game of Law, for example, requires that many years be spent at university and doing articles. During this period, the budding lawyer will come to know a language that not only allows the experience of law, but it also acts as an effective ‘barrier to entry’ to non-lawyers. But lawyers are not the only ones with a unique language – every field of human endeavour has its language, set of symbols, metaphors and figures of speech that are continuously repeated. What language do you engage in? Is it the language of creativity, opportunity, teamwork and success? Could you appropriate language from other areas to expand your experience and describe your world?
Resources (South) – it is likely that 'money' springs to mind when you hear this word but resources also means emotional support, know-how and process knowledge, equipment, networks, access to information, support systems and 'people you know'. The question of resources asks you to make clear what is it you actually need to make the game work. You may also wish to see a well designed vision or goal as a resource.
Style (South West) – Style is the way you play the game. Style embodies your behaviours, thoughts and words. Irrespective of what you are playing, you bring your unique personal style to the game. Style is learned and developed over time and is strongly influenced by role models, self perception and particularly by feedback. Much as sportsmen view videos of their performance in order to improve themselves, feedback allows you to see which behaviours provide the desirable outcomes. Where do you get your feedback from and is it helping you to achieve the desired results? Are you flexible enough to question your own style, open enough to ask for feedback and creative enough to experiment with new styles? Are you aware that much of your style is influenced by your early childhood experiences and from observing how others respond to situations?
Values (West) – Values are are standards or qualities considered worthwhile or desirable. They are abstract ideas about what an organisation/ society/ community believes to be good, right, and desirable. They represent your deeply held beliefs demonstrated through day-to-day behaviours and are the fundamental principles that guide community-driven processes. Values provide a basis for action and communicate expectations for participation and make a public pronouncement about how the organisation expects everyone to behave. Values should endure over the long-term and provide a constant source of strength for the individual or organisation that holds them.
It has been suggested by a number of writers that values create conditions that make certain beliefs and behaviours more likely. It is important to understand that whilst these values are influenced by the culture from which you come, you are ultimately responsible for constructing your personal values. So spending time on your values is an important exercise which becomes more useful as you read over and update them from time to time. What values do you need to support in order to play a particular game? Are these values reinforced and expressed in both your language and behaviour? Is there a discrepancy between expressed values and behaviour? How do you come to know what values are required to successfully play the games you are engaged in?
Rules (North West) – In order to play a game well, you need to be clear about what the rules are – both written and unwritten – and work with them stretching the boundaries where possible. Rules stipulate what can and cannot be done and not playing by the rules means you risk penalty or even exclusion from the game. Can the rules be bent or questioned? Are the rules applied consistently? Are the rules of the game stifling innovation and creativity? Is everyone clear about what the rules are?
Roles (North) – Every human being plays a number of different roles in day-to-day life. In addition to the kinship roles (you are someone’s child, lover, brother/sister, father/mother etc..) you probably play many different roles in the workplace as well. Think of the roles of friend, confidante, coach, mentor, boss, subordinate or even petty tyrant that you play within the context of your job title. Are the roles clear for you? Are there better ways to perform these roles? Are you expending the appropriate amount of energy in these roles? How would you know if you were performing your role exceptionally well or badly? Who gives you feedback? Some organisational theorists have suggested that organisational job titles are the same as roles performed by actors on the stage. The difference is that you interpret, direct, script and perform the role yourself. The challenge then is to perform the role as best as you can without attachment to it - be open to new experience by changing and evolving your performance.
Rituals (North East) – A ritual refers to Speech, action, singing, and other activities which often contain a symbolic meaning, performed in a specific order. In organisations, audits, year-end functions, teambuilding and weekly meetings are examples of typical rituals. A characteristic of ritual is that it has the quality of 'collapsing time' – a 5 minute presentation by the MD can encompass many years of the organisations' history. Another characteristics of ritual is that they can be performed so regularly that they start to lose their meaning and many people ‘go through the motions’ without quite understanding what they are really doing and why. Be clear about the rituals you engage in and their outcomes. Are they really necessary? Could they be changed, simplified or even removed? What relationships exist between rituals and outcomes?

Ideas & Experiments

Try and see KM as a game using this model.
How could the games you play become more interesting, rewarding and FUN?
Try to name the games around you – these could 'big games' like the economy, science, love, poverty, culture, politics, medicine, parenting and war.
Remember the root of the words Delusion (Deludo – Latin for 'Outside of the game') and Illusion (Inludo – Latin for 'In the game'). Are there some games you want to enter? Are there some you wish to leave? What do you have to sacrifice in order to play? Can you be flexible enough to play in different ways? Who is inviting you to play?
What are you perceiving? How do others see it? Remember that 'seeing' a particular game is a product of your perception and creative ability. Your leadership ability is about seeing a new, empowering game and somehow influencing others to see and experience it in the same way you do.
Try deconstructing your key relationships in terms of a game. What are the Rules, Roles, Resources, Goals, Rituals, Language, Values and Styles required to play the game really well? How confident are you about your gameplaying? How many games are you involved in right now?
Where do you get feedback from that tells you how well (or badly) you are perceived to be playing the game? How open are you to feedback – particularly negative feedback? What adjustments can you make to ensure that you become even more proficient?
Engage the language and metaphor of play and experimentation in whatever you do. Some languages engage this concept in interesting ways - in high forms of Japanese, for example, every verb is preceded by saying ‘played at’. For example, I play at being the MD, I play at being an artist, I play at being a coach and I play at being a father and even my father is playing at being dead. Somehow the word play is a reminder that you are still learning, experimenting and growing in a light-hearted, open way. Remember, it isn’t just life and death, it is a game. Enjoy it!
Be clear about what games you are engaged in, how much energy you expend in playing, what results you expect and why you are doing it.

Fireside Chat

Obstacles to knowledge sharing & KM

KMAadmin — Tue, 26 May 2009 09:31:04 -0600

Knowledge results from humans interacting with their environment and upon each other. As human interaction is the source of knowledge, it is necessary to ask what factors may impede the effective generation of knowledge and the sharing of know-how. Knowledge sharing / creation can only occur in the context of a 'safe space' but unfortunately many organisations find it difficult to maintain those conditions of culture and lived values that make for a safe space. This represents a paradox and a challenge to all key role players in such institutions who profess to support KM to take an honest, objective look at themselves. There are a number of behavioural factors related to power politics which are known to impede KM activities. These behaviours are particularly important because they are emulated in a cultural context (Katz and Kahn). Behaviours that negatively impact knowledge sharing and the practice of KM include:

Uninvolved, disinterested leadership
Status seeking and social climbing
Highly politicised environments
Professional jealousy
Corruption
Power games
Inconsistent behaviours
Lack of follow-through / not keeping promises
A history of organisational violence, punishment and reward (violence in organisational terms often means passive aggression, public humiliation, shooting down or ignoring ideas and suggestions etc.)
Ineffectual participation or communication by those concerned within knowledge networks
Lack of feedback or poor feedback
Stalling, late payment of invoices, not returning emails or phone calls
Poor support and reward of creators and holders of knowledge
Role players who don't take ownership or responsibility
The 'Invented in Africa' syndrome (one KMAfrica2007 conference paper suggested that while there was a useful model developed in Lesotho, it was rejected by role players simply because it came from Africa - some role players felt that models that come from the UK and America are 'better'.)

There are a number of writers (Walsh & Ungson (1991), Collison & Parcell (1998), Nonake & Takeuchi (1995)) who have emphasised the vital role cultural factors play in the creation and sharing of knowledge. The conclusion is that one of the main impediments to knowledge work are interpersonal behaviours and attitudes among organisational role players. This creates a challenge for any organisation which supports KM activities to demonstrate how they 'walk the talk' and how organisational values are lived on the ground. It also suggests that Knowledge Professionals need accept organisational politics as a reality of their work and should be prepared to keep themselves motivated with an own vision in mind.

Fireside Chat

Homological Transfer

storytelling — Mon, 25 May 2009 02:49:11 -0600

A particle physicist who knows about Brownian Motion (the random movement of particles in a solution) provides useful know-how and input into solving problems of traffic traffic control or the management of disease transmission. Anthroplogists used to studying pre-industrial cultures can provide insights into how social and community systems could be better designed. Film producers and directors have a wealth of experience in project management that has proven to be useful in helping design approaches to service delivery for government.

Seeing the similarity between processes, appropriating metaphors and language from one area of endeavour and applying them in another is probably something we all do - and now there is a word for it - Homological Transfer. Homological Transfer literally means to transfer logic of similar kind between areas of expertise. It engages the study of know-how, metaphors and stories and their systematic re-utilisation in different contexts. Homological Transfer is a knowledge creation process that takes principles and know-how from a field of study and applies them in a completely different context - and so is probably more in use than many would admit, especially given that we often end up doing that for which we were not formally trained.

Questions: What principles, stories and ideas have you found useful in getting things done, and from where did you learn them?
Clearly, transfer of know-how does not always have a positive impact and there are many examples of this too. Can you think of some?

Steve Banhegyi
steve@storytelling.co.za

Fireside Chat

Of cultures and operating systems

storytelling — Wed, 20 May 2009 23:42:57 -0600

Without an operating system, computer hardware is inanimate and about as capable as a brick. In the early days, the operating system was considered to be an integral part of the computer until a brilliant move by Bill Gates when the hardware was separated from the operating system with MS.DOS Version 1.0. From this point, the operating system became glamorous, glitzy and branded as a consumer product - and had to be paid for separately to the hardware.

I use 3 operating systems - MS.Windows XPPro , Ubuntu 9,04 (Jaunty Jackalope) and Windows Mobile 6.0 on my HTC palmtop. I first started using Linux about 4 years ago. Up 'till then I used Microsoft exclusively apart from my experiences with some of the more exotic operating systems of the early 1980s which included the Commodore PET (with 16Kb RAM!), the Sinclair ZX-81, an o/s for designing integrated circuits called Gaelic and even an O/S called Gerbil.

In using different operating systems, I've noticed that each operating system causes me to interact quite differently with the hardware - an altogether different user experience. On Windows, there are particular rituals that are missing on Linux; I have to do defrags and chkdsks, run virus checker updates (I pay for virus checkers and anti-spyware) and and fiddle with swap files from time to time. I spend much more time on ubuntu now day-to-day and it has always been exceptionally reliable and stable. There are also thousands of software titles available for instant installation and download from Astronomy all the way to Managing a Zoo (I live in a house with teenagers!)

The point is that an operating system has many interesting parallels to culture - a culture inhibits certain behavours whilst stimulating others and in the same way certain programs can run within a particular operating system whilst others cannot. Your apple or Linux software won't run on Windows. A culture can also put you into certain patterns of being and behaving of which you can become completely unconscious - where things can become so commonplace and everyday that they become 'the way we do things around here' - they have become a paradigm.

Fireside Chat

What is the smartest question you can ask?

storytelling — Sat, 09 May 2009 03:42:37 -0600

There is an important concept in KM that suggests that all knowledge is created by asking questions; the question is therefore a basic tool of KM. The the question here is, what is the smartest question that you can ask? Here are some possible answers to the question:

What is a question?
What is the smartest question I can ask?
What does "is" mean?

Fireside Chat

Technology and KM

storytelling — Mon, 04 May 2009 08:01:20 -0600

increasingly I'm starting to see software titles for corporates that represent themselves as 'Knowledge Management Systems Software' or words combing these magic words in some order. The idea is a clear and a seductive one; you can somehow take what is in the heads of your people and make it magically available to future generations via some computer-based information technology. With all the features and marketing hype around such software, it is important to remember some fundamentals:

The technologies and standards used to store electronic information have not been around for a very long time at all and there is no guarantee that you will be able to meaningfully access knowledge stored in a piece of software in years to come. This is because hardware and software standards change constantly. I found this out when I was trying to retrieve my old lecture notes from Wits that I had stored on a 360KB floppy - although I had a technology to read the disk, it was totally blank after 15 years of storage.

Somehow we are making enormous assumptions about our society and infrastructure if we assume to be able to access systems - sometimes on the other side of the planet - instantly. What happens if suddenly you can't access your laptop? If the internet is down? What happens if you you don't have hardware or electricity? What do we have to fall back on?

Steve Banhegyi
steve@storytelling.co.za

Fireside Chat

Open Access in African Publishing Industry: Opportunities and Challenges

KMAadmin — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 01:52:28 -0600

Authors: By Mr. J. J. Musakali and Dr. D. C. Rotich, Moi University, Kenya

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the development and access to knowledge through Open Access, propelled by emerging technologies in the publishing industry in Africa. The paper further discusses opportunities that present themselves through Open Access and the benefits to scholars worldwide. Challenges that face this practice are discussed and solutions suggested.

The paper argues that scholars require access to relevant scholarly literature to further the development of knowledge. This literature, which is rapidly increasing, is interdisciplinary, global, expensive, digital, and hidden behind technical walls to comply with license restrictions. Scholars with up-to-date technologies still have difficulty accessing the specialized literature that they need, while those in technologically poor institutions barely have any access at all. The current scholarly communication system needs urgent reforms to cope with the rapidly changing technological environment. Open Access, being the permanent online access to the full text of research articles for anyone, web-wide, is free, immediate, and handles multiple users.
This way, society as a whole benefits from an expanded and accelerated research cycle in which research can advance more effectively because researchers have immediate access to all the findings they need. Many research findings go unnoticed but with Open Access, they will be more visible and their usage and impact will increase, as the researchers too will find, access and use findings of others. Publishers likewise also benefit from the wider dissemination, greater visibility and higher journal citation of their articles.

Among the recommendations, the paper suggests that researchers, their institutions and their funders need to be informed and trained on the benefits of providing Open Access, together with establishing Institutional Open Access Repositories. Through this management of knowledge, scholars worldwide will access and benefit from each other’s findings.

Introduction

In today’s heavily wired world, access to information is a pre-condition for becoming a knowledge society. The right of access to information has become the dominant right in the information and knowledge era. Because of this, many people can now be allowed access to the ideas of others and also this presents an opportunity to participate in the global information-based socio-economic and political activities.

Most African countries spend a lot on research, yet only few individuals access the results. As a result, restricting access to knowledge restricts the development of science and has severe effects on the general well-being of people. Libraries in the developed world struggle to purchase access to all the scientific publications they need while subscriptions are prohibitively expensive for institutions in the developing world, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Developing countries (DCs) are now posed with the challenge of either becoming an integral part of the knowledge-based global culture or face the very real danger of finding themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide.

Open Access (OA) is about equitable access to information by anyone. This new emergence is based on the collaboration and involvement philosophy and principles that governed the initial developers of the Internet Protocol (IP). OA means that publications are made totally freely available on the Web, without any access restrictions.

Like other widely used terms, defining Open Access has attracted many attempts which somehow agree on how OA is executed. Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002) put it this way: "There are many degrees and kinds of wider and easier access to this literature. By 'open access' to this literature, we mean its free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. The only constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role for copyright in this domain, should be to give authors control over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited."

Bethesda (2003) and Berlin (2003) statements on the other hand agree that for a work to be OA, the copyright holder must consent in advance to let users "copy, use, distribute, transmit and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works, in any digital medium for any responsible purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorship...."

The Open Access Movement’s Trends

In the 17th century, Journals were an effective way of sharing research with other researchers. Authors did not have to pay to be published nor were they paid for their works. Administration of publications was usually unpaid and publishers were usually academic societies and university presses. Libraries were seen as good places to make the journals available to others besides the subscribers.

After World War II, Robert Maxwell of Pergamon Press started buying academic journals and small university presses. He took over what he termed as the ‘burden’ of publishing and administration, ‘so that academics could concentrate on research’. He then charged them for publishing their articles ‘to pay for the administrative costs’. He went ahead and took over author copyright. The result was that prices shot up, especially for libraries but authors and reviewers remained unpaid. Maxwell and other commercial publishers made huge profit margins and their empires grew at the expense of library budgets which became strained. By then, expensive journals became the place to publish. Research councils funded research more highly in this kind of journals, because the readership was wide. In the meantime, universities lost control of their own research and content became gradually less important than delivery. This situation was painfully accepted by academics because of their need to publish their research as promotions and other academic yardsticks were pegged on publications. Above all, it was because there seemed to be no alternative.

In the meantime, the internet was developing and non-journal scholarly communication was already making an impact using the medium to express their ideas. In the early nineties the World Wide Web (WWW) was born, opening up new opportunities and enabling publishing in a new way, and a potentially unlimited audience. Electronic journal publishers saw this as an opportunity to exploit and moved with speed to take advantage of this.

Open Access as a phenomenon emerged in the mid-1990s in the area of electronic journals. This was enabled by the rapid development of the Internet as a means of communication. The open access movement was based on a realisation that the traditional subscription-based publications unnecessarily restrict access to research results, in a field which essentially is a public good. Most of the early open access journals were founded by single academics or groups of academics at a time when traditional subscription-based journals were still published on paper only. Thus, open access journals not only offered free availability of the articles, they also pioneered the use of the electronic medium. Many scholars started to use this new medium to express their ideas. By the year 2000, access to digital scholarly and research material, published and peer-reviewed journal articles was in most cases immediate, free and unrestricted online. Libraries began cancelling print journals in favour of electronic journals and some cancelled for-profit journals in favour of open access journals. OA movement gathered momentum.

Open Access and Open Content Publishing

Open Content is related to OA but open content is usually defined to include the general permission to modify a given work. Open Content is about distributing learning materials for free, but ensuring that the copyright remained with the authors and that the article would be used responsibly (Wiley, 1999). The content accessed in such a manner can be used in infinity of ways restricted only by the imagination of the user.

OA Publication is defined by the Bethesda Meeting on OA Publishing (11 April 2003) as one that meets the following two conditions:

The author(s) and copyright holder(s) grant(s) to all users a free, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual right of access to, and a license to copy, use, distribute, transmit and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works, in any digital medium for any responsible purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorship, as well as the right to make small numbers of printed copies for their personal use.
A complete version of the work and all supplemental materials, including a copy of the permission as stated above, in a suitable standard electronic format is deposited immediately upon initial publication in at least one online repository that is supported by an academic institution, scholarly society, government agency, or other well-established organisation that seeks to enable open access, unrestricted distribution, interoperability, and long-term archiving.

OA publishing therefore aims to provide free online access to all publications in which case a reader will not be asked to pay for subscription fees and therefore increase the mass audience an article can reach and thus promote further creation of knowledge.

Opportunities with Open Access Publishing

Africa still lags behind in the area of electronic information although there have been some pioneering initiatives like African Journals Online, African Digital Library, Database of African Theses and Dissertations, Africa’s Open Knowledge Network, and African Online Digital Library, among the few. Presently, there have been dramatic changes in scholarly publishing field as almost all major journals are now available in an electronic format, often offered to universities as package deals, usually bundling huge numbers of titles from a single publisher. Many big scientific publishers are experimenting with single open access journals or a hybrid form called open choice, which gives authors the possibility of having their papers made openly available in exchange for payment of a basic fee.

Harnard et al (2004) notes that there are many advocates of open access who believe that scholars should continue to publish their articles in traditional subscription-based journals but should at the same time upload open access copies of the papers to subject-based or institutional e-print repositories. This alternative mode of open access is often referred to as the green route as opposed to the gold route of the journals themselves being open access.

There are two primary vehicles for delivering OA to research articles, OA journals or OA archives or repositories. The chief difference between them is that OA journals conduct peer review and OA archives do not. In a number of African academic institutions of higher learning, starting and maintaining journals is becoming the order of the day. Once launched, these journals can provide ready material for OA. There are other OA vehicles such as personal web sites, e-books, discussion forums, blogs, wikis, and person-to person file-sharing networks. There will undoubtedly be many more in the future. Some African scholars have in the recent past started posting their academic papers and sharing knowledge with others on personal websites, blogs and specific networks. OA journals are economically sustainable because the true costs of peer review, manuscript preparation, and OA dissemination are considerably lower than the prices we currently pay for subscription-based journals. OA archives are economically sustainable because they are so inexpensive. Depositing new articles takes only a few minutes, and is done by individual authors, not archive managers. OA archives only require some server space, usually at a university. These archives benefit the institutions that host them by enhancing the visibility and impact of the articles, the authors, and the institution.
Nwangwu and Ahmed (2009) emphasise the importance of OA in eliminating all the factors that inhibit the flow of knowledge from the South to the North, and vice versa. If embraced, they note, the movement would probably expose the true level of scientific activities going on in Africa and other developing regions, as well as giving them access to those sources that have been hitherto restrictive to them. In addition, OA will strengthen the science communities of Africa, strengthen their national science systems, and very crucially expose those virile local knowledge sources, systems and methods that are yet to find their ways into the international market of ideas, often because they are believed not to meet international standards. The availability of an author’s publication in the public domain not only gives the author satisfaction but is an avenue for the author to interact with others, to be cited and even be invited worldwide for conferences and similar activities. The little success that has been there in OA has enabled some scholars to globe-trot and thus expand their knowledge base.

Proponents of OA argue that price barriers constitute the bulk of the problem for which OA is the solution. Removing price barriers alone will give most OA users most of what they want and need. In addition to removing access barriers, OA should be immediate, rather than delayed, and should apply to full-text, not just to abstracts or summaries.

Suber (2004) states that when copyright holders consent to OA, they Usually consent in advance to the unrestricted reading, downloading, copying, sharing, storing, printing, searching, linking, and crawling of the full-text of the work. Most authors choose to retain the right to block the distribution of mangled or misattributed copies. Some choose to block commercial re-use of the work. Essentially, these conditions block plagiarism, misrepresentation, and sometimes commercial re-use, and authorize all the uses required by legitimate scholarship, including those required by the technologies that facilitate online scholarly research.

OA will in time improve the global scientific findings by exposing alternative strategies and techniques which already exist but are not part of the mainstream science systems, but which also yield the same or even better results with research executed with standard methods. As noted earlier as in the introduction of the internet, OA upholds the dictum that knowledge should be a Common Heritage of man, a right that should be made available to persons.

In the recent past, there has been an increase in online groups and forums that not only socialise but engage in some meaningful information sharing. These have emanated from alumni, professionals in similar fields and even researchers. In most cases, subscription to such groups is free and administration is by a moderator. The knowledge shared via these groups has no geographical distance as any member of the group from any part of the world can access and post content. E-conferences and networking have also played a major role in shrinking distance in terms of information. Hamel (2005) argues that online or e-knowledge is the best thing ever to happen to African nations. Indeed, internet provides a bonanza of knowledge. It is the new revolutionary instrument for accessing knowledge. Knowledge portals and online knowledge searching and knowledge sharing have grown fast and have considerably broken the isolation of most DCs. Nwagwu and Ahmed (2009) point out that scientists in SSA countries can now freely access hundreds of scientific and professional journals, papers, documents, encyclopaedias, reports, presentations, lectures, etc. This represents a considerable progress in comparison with the situation prevailing only a few years ago. The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) for instance, is an opportunity where African scholars can deposit their e-journals. This is a projected initiated by Land University Libraries, Sweden. There are many other OA archives and databases available online. An organisation called Bionline provides access to research journals produced in Africa through the DOAJ.

OA has presented many opportunities to all the stakeholders. Suber (2004) dwells on some of the opportunities to different groups;

Authors: OA gives them a worldwide audience larger than that of any subscription-based journal, no matter how prestigious or popular, and probably increases the visibility and impact of their work.
Readers: OA gives them barrier-free access to the literature they need for their research, not constrained by the budgets of the libraries where they may have access privileges. It increases their convenience, reach, and retrieval power.
Teachers and students: OA puts rich and poor on an equal footing for these key resources and eliminates the need for permissions to reproduce and distribute content.
Libraries: OA solves the pricing crisis for scholarly journals. It also solves the permission crisis. OA also serves library interests in other, indirect ways. Librarians want to help users find the information they need, regardless of the budget-enforced limits on the library's own collection. University librarians want to help faculty increase their audience and impact and thereby help the university raise its research profile.
Universities: OA increases the visibility of their faculty and institution, reduces their expenses for journals, and advances their mission to share knowledge.
Journals and publishers: OA makes their articles more visible, discoverable, retrievable, and useful. If a journal is OA, then it can use this superior visibility to attract submissions and advertising, not to mention readers and citations.
Funding agencies: OA increases the return on their investment in research, making the results of the funded research more widely available, more discoverable, more retrievable, and more useful. OA serves public funding agencies in a second way as well, by providing public access to the results of publicly-funded research.
Governments: As funders of research, governments benefit from OA in all the ways that funding agencies do (see previous entry). OA also promotes democracy by sharing government information as rapidly and widely as possible.
Citizens: OA gives them access to peer-reviewed research (most of which is unavailable in public libraries) and gives them access to the research for which they have already paid through their taxes. It also helps them indirectly by helping the researchers, physicians, manufacturers, technologists, and others who make use of cutting-edge research for their benefit.

A growing number of studies have confirmed that an OA article is more likely to be used and cited than one behind subscription barriers. There is enough evidence that OA documents are most likely to be cited than non OA documents. This gives OA authors an advantage over other authors who are sceptical about OA. Scholars are paid by research funders and/or their universities to do research; the published article is the report of the work they have done, rather than an item for commercial gain. The more the article is used, cited, applied and built upon, the better for research as well as for the researcher's career.
Open access goes beyond the academic circle and spreads its wings to other areas. An OA article can be read by anyone, including professionals, researchers in different fields, media practitioners, politicians, civil servants, etc. Open Access articles can often be found with a web search, using any general search engine or those specialized for the scholarly/scientific literature.
Many librarians have openly supported Open Access. These librarians believe that open access promises to remove both the price barriers and the permission barriers that undermine library efforts to provide access to the journal literature. Many library associations have either signed major open access declarations, or created their own. At most universities, the library houses the institutional repository, which provides free access to scholarly work of the university's faculty. Some open access advocates believe that institutional repositories will play a very important role in responding to open access mandates from funders.

Most African countries cannot afford books. Most of these books are available internationally and quite expensive by African standards. This is where OA comes in. Researchers, students and scholars in general in most cases get material via OA. This way, they are able to get latest, updated materials without necessarily paying anything except may be internet browsing charges if they are not met by their respective institutions.

Challenges to Open Access Publishing

Most African countries have no political or academic willpower to encourage growth in Information Communication Technologies (ICTs). This is reflected in budget allocations, government bureaucracy, training and restrictions among others. There is sufficient basis to suggest that part of the reasons for the low profile of scientists in Africa is the poor access to scientific publications from the developed countries, exacerbated by the institution of copyright (Tagler, 1996). African countries scientists require access to scientific publications, which scientists all over the world are always willing to make available at no cost, in order to benefit from and also contribute to the world stock of knowledge. What Africa needs is an initiative or
arrangement that will guarantee access of scientists to scientific publications irrespective of where the sources are developed (Nwangwu and Ahmed 2009). Moller (2004) points out that despite many opportunities that present themselves, many countries in Africa are yet to utilise the privilege offered by these resources to internationalise their research sources. Many African countries and institutions have not encouraged faculty and students to contribute to or access OA materials. Some universities like the University of Western Cape has launched an Open Content project to have students and staff participate in OA. Previously, all other efforts have come from the west. African scholars have continually relied on e-papers from developed countries.

Language is a major barrier in most African countries. Different African countries have different official languages. Most online literature and OA materials for that matter, are in English. Kenya as a country for instance, has 42 tribes with different dialects. It is difficult to avail material in many of these languages. Kiswahili is a major language in East Africa but limited in online presence in terms of publications. Developers of the language are still grappling with other issues like online spelling checkers, e-encyclopaedias and dictionaries etc. It will therefore be a long shot before there is a repository of documents in Kiswahili to even consider OA.

Resistance to change has been seen as another challenge. There are many librarians, researchers, readers and authors who have resisted the change to the e-world. Some of them have no valid reason to back their resistance. Other librarians especially, believe that if they embrace the electronic version completely, their jobs are at a risk. True? False? You tell me. There are researchers and authors out there, especially in Africa who have kept their findings until they are overtaken by time! The findings simply become obsolete because of the fear that others will know about their findings. No wonder an old saying agrees with this that the richest place on earth is the graveyard, where you find many unexploited ideas buried with their owners.

Technologically, many African countries lack the infrastructure to handle OA materials. Telecommunication challenges like bandwidth allocation, weak communication and social infrastructure has not only blocked information flows but ultimately stifled social and economic development. Internet connection is key to OA. Despite having a very rapid rate of internet penetration, Africa still lags behind in internet connectivity (Keats and Beebe, 2003) with barely 1% of internauts being in Africa and the Middle East. This point is very crucial because much of the efforts to free scientific publications from the publisher in the electronic revolution are the internet facilities. Scientists who are not connected to the internet are excluded automatically from publishing in, and benefiting from, a growing number of journals, because many new journals are created online while many old ones now often have online counterparts.

Much has been said about the information rich and information poor. Many developing countries have complained of a deliberate move to isolate them in access to some information. This in turn has created a digital divide in which we have two distant worlds-the information rich and the information poor. Without a proper ICT structure, no country can advance in any sort of development. By digital divide, we refer to inequalities in access to the internet, extent of use, knowledge of search strategies, quality of technical connections and social support, ability to evaluate the quality of information, and diversity of uses (DiMaggio et al., 2001). The digital-divide underpins much of the ongoing discourse on whether ICT can be harnessed for mitigating poverty in DCs with several voices arguing that those who live on less than $1 a day have no need for ICTs. The proponents of ICTs on the other hand however consider ICTs as tools that can be used to provide the poor with economic opportunities and improvement in human well-being (see World Bank, 2001;UNCTAD, 2003). Furthermore, the new ICT products and applications are frequently designed in ignorance of DCs’ realities particularly SSA and fail to address the needs of the most disadvantaged sections of the community (Mansell and When, 1998).

A survey for Africa Tertiary Institutions Connectivity Survey (ATICS) carried out by the African Virtual University in 2005 showed the average African university has bandwidth capacity equivalent to a broadband residential connection available in Europe, pays 50 times more for their bandwidth than their educational counterparts in the rest of the world, and fails to monitor, let alone manage, the existing bandwidth (ATICS, 2005). As a result, what little bandwidth that is available becomes even less useful for research and education purposes. Arunachallam (2002), points out that the gulf in the levels of science and technology between the developed and the DCs will tend to widen further with the rapid expansion of the internet in the West and the speedy transition to electronic publishing, and this can lead to increased brain drain and dependence on foreign aid of a different kind (knowledge imperialism).

Although OA is basically free access to information, there needs to be some funding to take care of subscriptions, designing of tools, management, and availing technology. Most African economies are constrained or have other priorities and would invest in OA only if their budgets have surplus.

Suber, (2004) summarises the major four challenges to the success of OA.

Filtering and censorship barriers. Many schools, employers, and governments want to limit what you can see.
Language barriers. Most online literature is in English, or just one language, and machine translation is very weak.
Handicap access barriers. Most web sites are not yet as accessible to handicapped users as they should be.
Connectivity barriers. The digital divide keeps billions of people, including millions of serious scholars, offline.

What can be done? Recommendations

Putting in place information and ICT policies
Instilling interest in scholars to participate
Heavily invest in education and especially in ICT education
Expand internet network, bandwidth.
Constructing websites for all existing journals.
There is need for African community of stakeholder groups – librarians, authors, researchers etc., to come together to champion the course of OA. This can easily be done through internet.
Embrace change, not resist it.
Non-profit foundations like UN bodies seem to be committed to disseminating of information and information-related activities. Stakeholders should take advantage of this and collaborate with such groups.

Conclusion

OA has many opportunities that Africans can exploit. It is a way of bridging the Digital Divide, enabling development and innovation and making sure that researchers working in Africa get visibility in the world, and can be aware of what other researchers in Africa are doing. By putting research results in the public domain, discussion is made possible and further innovation enabled. This is also a way of rewarding Africa after too many years of research resources exploitation.

References

African Tertiary Institutions Connectivity Survey (ATICS) (2005) ‘African Virtual University (AVU)’, Nairobi, http://www.atics.info/index.html
Arunachallam, S. (2002) ‘Reaching the unreached: what role can ICTs play in rural development?’,Paper Presented at the Asian Regional Conference of UN ICT Task Force – Media Lab Asia, New Delhi, 25 April
Björk, B-C. and Turk, Z. (2006). "The Electronic Journal of Information Technology in Construction (ITcon): an open access journal using an un-paid, volunteer-based organization." Information Research, 11(3) paper 255. (Case studies in open access publishing. Number one.) [Available at http://InformationR.net/ir/11-3/paper255.html
Cetto, M.A. (2001) ‘The contribution of electronic communication to science – has it lived up to its promise?’, Proceedings of the Second ICSU – UNESCO International Conference on Electronic Publishing in Science, UNESCO House, Paris, 20–23 February.
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Hamel, J.L. (2005) ‘Knowledge for sustainable development in Africa towards new policy initiatives’, World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp.217–229.
Harnad, S., Brody, T., Vallieres, F., Carr, L., Hitchcock, S., Gingras, Y, Oppenheim, C., Stamerjohanns, H. & Hilf, E. (2004). The access/impact problem and the green and gold roads to open access. Serials Review, 30(4), 310-314. Retrieved 3 March, 2006 from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.serrev.2004.09.013
Moller, A. (2004) ‘The rise of open access journals: their viability and their prospects for the African scholarly community’, Paper Presented during the International Conference on Electronic Publishing and Dissemination Organized by Council for Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) held from 1–2 September 2003, www.codesria.sn
Nwagwu, E. & Ahmed, A. (2009). Building Open Access in Africa, 82 Int. J. Technology Management, Vol. 45, Nos. 1/2, 2009
Raney, K. (1998). Into a glass darkly. Journal of Electronic Publishing, 4(2). Retrieved 3 March, 2006 from http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/04-02/raney.html
Suber, P. (2004). A very brief introduction to open access. Retrieved from http:// www.earlham.edu/peters/fos/brief.htm (Accessed March 30, 2006)
Tagler, J. (2005) The Real Digital Divide, London, UK, 12–18 March, Vol. 374, No. 8417, p.9.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2003) E-Commerce and Development Report, UN, New York and Geneva.
Walsham, G. (2000) ‘IT/S in DCs’, in M. Zeleny (Ed.) The Handbook of Information Technology in Business, International Encyclopedia of Business Management, London, UK: ThomsonLearning, ISBN: 1-86152-308-4, pp.105–109.
Weerawarana, S. and Weeratunga, J. (2004) ‘Open source in DCs’, The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), ISBN: 91-586-8613-4, http://www.sida.se/ publications.
Wiley, J. (1999) ‘Open publication license’, http:/Open content.org/openpub (retrieved 13 June 2005)

Useful Links

Budapest Open Access Initiative and its FAQ, February 14, 2002
Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing, June 20, 2003
Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities, October 22, 2003

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